The Gang is Family
by thewolfgurlgleek
Summary: Ponyboy and Steve have always had their differences without Soda knowing. But when something happens to expose those differences, whose side will Soda take? Will Ponyboy start to push away from the gang and find his own path? How will the gang take it all? OOC Pony! A story of betrayal, family, and forgiveness. Read to find out! COMPLETE! :D
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey everyone! So after almost a year or so I'm FINALLY back in the Outsiders world! I'm so excited! Just so you guys know the all of the above option won my poll, but since the surprise story (Ponyboy fighting with Steve) was the winner, it gets done first! It takes place pre-book so everyone is alive and well, and without blonde hair, haha. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Sodapop Curtis. But I don't, S.E. Hinton does.**

**Ponyboy POV: **"Hey Soda," I called as I walked through the door. I was dead tired from track and starving. I hope Sodapop made pasta, or something filling, but above all there was a part of me that was hoping it wasn't a strange shade of orange.

"He ain't here kid," drawled an annoying, nasally voice from our living room. _Wonderful, _I thought rolling my eyes. Steve Randall was _exactly _the member of the gang I was most hopeful to see sprawled out on our couch after a rough day.

I rounded the corner to see him with his legs draped over the arm of the couch, sure enough, and crunching on a bag of _my _favorite potato chips. "Well then, where is he?" I demanded coldly. "And what are you doin' here all alone?"

He snorted and sat up straight, glaring at me as if I were the stupidest person alive. "He's at work, smart mouth. He asked me to come here so you didn't have to be home alone; told me Two-Bit was gonna give him a ride home."

"But still, why you here?" I asked, annoyed.

"Are you really that stupid, kid? You know all of us are allowed here whenever we wanna be, and besides, I sure ain't here for you. I'm here because my buddy asked me to be here."

"Well I don't need babysitting!" I blew up. "I ain't a kid!"

"Really?" he sneered. "'Cuz with all that whining, you could never tell you're a thirteen year old kid."

"I'm fourteen!"

"You sure don't act like it, you ungrateful little brat. You hang on to Soda like a five year old, and you never leave anyone be, you ask way too many questions. No wonder Darry hates you so much. I can't wait till you up and leave this place, kid."

I staggered backward. I knew Darry and I didn't get along well in the past six months since mom and dad died, but… did he really hate me?

Steve, being the jerk he is, was laughing at my stricken expression. At the sight of him, I saw red and hatred filled my veins. He wanted to talk about hate? I'd show him what hate really was.

I took a running start at him so he wouldn't have time to react; I was faster than he would ever be by a long shot. Grabbing him by his shirt collar and punching him as hard in the gut as I could, he fell to the ground groaning.

There was a part of me on the inside that knew it was wrong to hit him while he was down, but that part was overpowered by the hate I'd felt for him for the past ten or eleven years. I kicked him in the ribs repeatedly, and got down so I could hit him in his ugly face, hearing him grunt with pain at every blow, but that only pushed me further. I wanted him to feel every ounce of pain he's ever made me feel.

When I'd finally stopped and caught my breath, I saw that his face was bloody and bruised, and he was clutching his ribs and moaning. I got down to his level and whispered venomously, "Am I just a kid now?" and with one more kick to the jaw, I ran out the front door and bolted down the street.

**Sodapop POV: **"Give me a call," the girl said, slipping me her number over the desk and winking as she walked away. When she was out of sight, I tossed it. I mean, sure it was fun flirting with the girls and all, but I had Sandy, and she was all I'd never need.

"Oh Soda, you're so strong, and muscular, and manly, and so _cute _when you work on cars! Hold me!" Two-Bit mimicked in a high pitched voice as Johnny and Dallas cackled at the joke.

Idiot. I smacked him in the head and he looked highly offended. "Well excuse me for complimenting your skills with women. That blonde was real hot, though. Since you're taken, mind giving me the number?"

"I already put in the trash, Two-Bit."

"I can dig it out," he said quickly and I rolled my eyes. Always about the blondes.

The door chimed as someone walked in. We all turned to see who it was, and our mouths fell open. It was Steve, and he looked like he'd just been clobbered real badly. His lip was wide open, and his face bloody, he was clutching his ribs and limping over to us.

"Stevie, what happened to you, man?" I asked worriedly. "Was it the socs? Did they get you?"

Dally and Two-Bit were calling the socs every name in the book as they assessed Steve, and Johnny looked panicked at the sight of him. Even Johnny hadn't looked this bad after he'd been jumped.

"I thought you were supposed to be at our house," I said. Did they get you on the way there?"

"No," he grunted angrily. "It ain't the socs that did this, and I _was _at your house what it happened."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The kid did it," he growled.

You could almost hear our jaws drop at the same time. "What?" I asked, bewildered.

"No way!" Two-Bit said.

"Pony would never do that," Johnny shook his head.

"Didn't know the kid had it in him," Dal grunted. "I'm proud."

I turned to glare at Dally and he shut up immediately. He knew I was dead serious. "Why would he do that to you?" I asked.

"Dunno," Steve shrugged indifferently. "All I do know is as soon as he was done he ran out of the house and left me on the ground. I have no clue where he is."

I put a hand on my friends shoulder and he winced, probably because he'd gotten a blow there too. "I'll call Darry. It looks like he and I need to talk to Pony. He and I will go look for him. You guys all stay at the house."

But as I sat there, calling Darry's work and waiting for him to come to the phone, all I could think was how much I couldn't believe that Pony would hurt someone like that. "What's the matter, Soda?" Darry asked as soon as he picked up the phone. "Boss told me you said it was urgent."

"We need to find Ponyboy, Dar. We have a problem."

**A/N: Sorry I know it probably stinks right now but I promise it will get better! Please review and tell me what you think, I'd love to know if you want me to continue! I need at least five reviews! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi everyone! So first of all I want to thank everyone for the awesome response I got to the first chapter of this, I didn't think it would do half as well as it did! And secondly, I want to apologize for the delay, I've been kind of busy these past two weekends and haven't been able to update! Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Considering Sodapop is portrayed by Rob Lowe and Johnny by Ralph Macchio, I would LOVE to say that the Outsiders are mine, they aren't.**

**Darry POV: **"What do you mean Pony beat Steve up?" I asked as soon as Soda climbed into the truck? "Pony ain't never hurt anyone before, he can't hurt a fly!"

"That's what I was wondering," Soda said. "But you saw Steve, Pony must've been real ticked off if he could do that much damage."

"But that doesn't excuse it!" I yelled. "He needs to know he can't go around and hit people like that! He ain't like Dallas. And besides, what if someone from the state were to see him do that? You would both be taken to the boys' home in the blink of an eye!"

"Dar, calm down," Soda said softly, patting me on the arm. "I'm sure Pony knows that. We just need to talk some sense into him right now."

I knew Sodapop was right, but I couldn't help the unsettling feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. As much as I loved our gang, I didn't want my little brother to turn out like the rest of them. The kid was going to go places. He was darn well smart enough to get a scholarship and get out of this town, make something of himself; I just didn't want him to lose his opportunities.

We found Pony at the first place we looked. He was sitting on a bench in front of the library reading a book. When he saw us his entire face paled, and without a word, he climbed into the car. It was a silent drive home. Clearly he knew what he was about to get.

We'd told the boys to wait for us at the house, but they all seemed to know it was better that we find out what we needed to know alone, and solve it as a family. But when we sat down at the kitchen table, he just stared back at Soda and I, his expression blank and unreadable. Soda was just staring back at him expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

After another minute of this I sighed and said, "So, you gonna tell us what the heck was goin' through your mind when you were killing Steve? Cuz' I sure don't know Pony."

"I'll tell ya what was going through it," Pony said bitterly. "That jerk has been on my back for years, making me feel like a worthless kid. Usually I put up with him for Soda's sake, but now I've had enough. He's had it coming for a real long time."

"W-what?" Soda stuttered. "You don't like Steve? Why didn't you ever tell me, Pone?"

"Cuz' he's your buddy, so I put up with him, but he's a self-conceited idiot! I am _not _a kid! I'm fourteen years old, for god's sake! It's time y'all start treatin' me like it!"

"Pony, we don't treat you like a kid," I replied defensively and Soda nodded. "it's just that you have so many incredible opportunities in front of you, and we're trying to steer you in the right direction."

"Well maybe it's a little too much!" he yelled. "And besides Darry, why would you wanna help me? You hate me! You have since mom and dad died!"

My eyes bulged wide, as well as Soda's. "What?" I sputtered. "Pony, how could you think that? You know I love you, kiddo."

He narrowed his eyes. "Do I? Whenever I bring home B's, you yell and say it should be better, even when I get A's it ain't good enough! When I read, you say I should play football, when I play football, you say I should study! I can't even go to the movies without being hollered at! You never let me be myself, but you let Sodapop here get away with murder and then laugh at him for it."

Soda's eyes were filled with tears. "Pony," he whispered brokenly, and I knew he was at a loss for words. He'd always known Pony better, but how could he not have seen this? "That ain't true, little buddy. You know Darry loves you. He doesn't treat the two of us any different."

"Says who?" Pony laughed bitterly. "You wouldn't know. You've always been everybody's favorite. No matter where I go people ask me if I'm related to you, and everyone says you're so darn perfect, when I'm the one that works hard at _everything! _Even dad liked you better! He was just like the two of you! He never really understood why I liked to read more than I liked to fight. But you know what? That's okay, because as soon as I get to college, I'm gonna start writing books like I always wanted, and then everyone in this stupid town will wish that they knew me better."

He was panting by the end of his speech. "Are you happy now?" he breathed before storming out of the kitchen and slamming the door to his bedroom.

I sat there in shock for a moment, and Sodapop had is head in his hands. "Darry, do you think he really meant all that?" he asked miserably. "All the stuff about me being the favorite, and you hating him?"

I wanted so badly to reassure my younger brother, tell him that Ponyboy hadn't meant anything he said. But instead I said, "I dunno, Pepsi-Cola. It sounded like he's been keeping that in a long time."

Soda's face sank lower into his hands and I patted him on the back.

Just then, the front door opened and Two-Bit was the first to enter. "So y'all, what'd we miss?"

**A/N: So how'd you guys like it? Do you think Pony's being fair, and what do you think the gang is going to do about it all? If you guys review, I promise I'll update by next weekend! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlfgleek :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hi everyone! So, again I want to apologize for this extremely long and unplanned delay for this update. In the weeks since I updated last all my teachers decided they wanted to drown their students in endless homework. Now however, I'm on spring break and well rested, so I can update a couple times before Monday and hopefully keep a decent schedule after that! I hope you guys enjoy seeing where Pony's anger leads!**

**Disclaimer: Only S.E. Hinton could come up with something as amazingly iconic as the Outsiders.**

**Sodapop POV: **After we'd explained our whole conversation with Pony to the guys, the entire room was silent. Nobody seemed to know just how to react, but every single one of them looked kind of uncomfortable, refusing to meet mine or Darry's eyes.

"Did any of y'all know about this?" I asked seriously. When nobody answered I lost it. "WELL?!" I demanded. "DID YOU?"

All at once, four guilty hands raised into the air. "You all did," Darry said, not as a question, but like he was stating a fact. "Y'all knew that… he felt this way. About us," he sucked in a breath. "About me."

"Look Dar," Two-Bit tried to reason. "We thought it was just when he was upset sometimes and wanted somethin' to holler about. We never thought he meant any of the crap he was spoutin', and we sure as heck didn't think the kid would ever say any of that to your face."

Darry nodded, looking kinda green and suddenly deciding that the drawings on our carpet were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Steve, tell me the truth here buddy," I looked at him desperately. "How long have you and Pone been fightin' like this?"

"Since we were kids," he muttered and I fell back against the couch. "But I swear Soda; it's never been _this _bad until today. I've never hit him, and he'd never hit me."

"You positive you dunno why he would hit you the way he did?" I demanded.

Steve nodded once. "I was just sitting there on the couch, eating some chips. Said I'd come to hang out with him cuz' you were at work and he just went at me like that. I didn't do nothin'."

"Aww come on Steve!" Dally protested. "Even if I wasn't there I know the kid's way too soft to hurt someone without them doin' somethin' to him first! So spill it! Tell us what you said, _right now _before I pummel you all over again and give you another black eye."

"Dal, its okay," a smug voice came from the hallway. Pony stood there, smirking like he knew something everyone else didn't. "You don't need to defend me; I can take care of myself. I think Steve's face shows that pretty well," he chuckled.

What had happened to my baby brother? So pure and innocent? "Pony," I whispered, getting up with my hands held in front of me, pleading. "Please. Tell me what's goin' on. It's me, Soda. Come on honey, you've always been able to talk to me," I placed a hand on his shoulder and he jerked away, staggering back a few steps.

"Why should I talk to you now?" he screamed at me. "It's not like you don't know what's goin' on already! I hit Steve cuz' he made me mad, and that's all there is to it. Go hang out with Sandy or somethin', Soda. Stop buggin' me, cuz' you ain't gonna get nothin' outta me anymore, alright?"

"I'll be back by eleven," he muttered before storming out of the house, leaving my hand still shaking, and stretched out towards him.

I felt as though my heart had just been ripped apart at the seams. My little brother was pushing away from me. What had I done wrong? Had I somehow made him believe that I didn't care about him? I slumped against the wall in defeat and sank to the floor; my entire world seemed to be falling apart around me then.

Someone's hand rested against my shoulder and I looked up to see Steve sitting next to me looking concerned. "You okay, buddy?" he whispered.

"No," I nearly sobbed. "He's never pushed away from me like that before; not in fourteen years. Not even when mom and dad died. He never once shut down on me like that and blocked me out. But right now… he was looking at me like he… like he _hated _me. Glory, what'd you say to him, Steve? What did you say that made him wanna stay away from me?"

"I swear buddy, I didn't say nothin' about either of y'all. He was just ticked off and he took it out on me, I swear."

"Yeah, but I've never seen him storm outta the house like that," Darry countered. "And he looked like he knew something everyone else didn't. So we need to get to the bottom of it all, before we lose him."

**Ponyboy POV: **I was halfway to the DX tryin' to clear my head to no avail. Stupid Sodapop, acting like he didn't know how much Darry despised me all this time. Every time we fought he'd take Darry's side and now I knew why. There was a time when the pained look on his face would have killed me; there was a time where I would've hugged my brother close and told him everything that was bothering me. Not anymore.

It was like Dally always told me and Johnny anyway. 'You get cold and hard and nothing can hurt you anymore.' I was through with letting Darry hurt me. For once, I would go against him, take advice from Dally. I would make sure Darry didn't get in my way anymore, or in the way of whom I wanted to become. If it meant that I would have to forget that I even had an older brother, then so be it. If I needed to be hard on Soda and alienate him too, so be it.

**A/N: Okay, so that was kind of a bogus filler chapter but I promise I'll do my best to update by tomorrow or Thursday and it is going to get better! What do you guys think about Pony having a friend outside the gang who can help him? She'll be a girl, but I promise she's going to be a good OC! They never seemed to mention Ponyboy's life outside the gang too much, and I thought it would be a nice idea. Tell me what you think and I'll see you guys soon! Love you!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everybody! I'm really happy you all liked the last chapter, and I agree with you all it's nice to see Pony in a different light than usual. I hope you all liked the OC I mentioned last time, because she'll be in here now. So enjoy! And any Divergent fans, please vote on my poll for a new story!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the gang I'd be the luckiest person in the world. Unfortunately though, they belong to S.E. Hinton.**

**Ponyboy POV:** I saw her in front of the library seated on a bench waiting for me like she did every Friday, and my anger deflated like a balloon. "Hey Jade," I called, waving my hand from across the street. She peeked up brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes and smiled, motioning for me to come over to her.

Jade was from our side of town, but she was the only other kid with a brain around there, so we got along easy. Her hair was long; it fell to her waist, and caught against her face in the wind. Her eyes were like glass, bluer than the ocean and she was kind of short compared to me. But she wasn't under average height. For three years, she and I have been hanging out. I always brought her to come over when nobody but mom and dad were home, because all the rest would just make the assumption of her being my girlfriend and that was something none of us wanted.

After mom and dad died, I'd ignored her for a while, because so many of the memories I had of them were associated with her. It finally ended two months ago when she confronted me before track practice, furious at me for blocking her out, when she knew she could help me through the loss. Ever since then, we'd gone back to being nearly inseparable.

When I'd made it over and sat down I avoided her eyes. I could feel her slowly looking me over, like she knew something had happened to me. "What's the matter," she asked, her eyebrows furrowing just as I had expected. There wasn't any hiding from her. Jade could read me better than anyone else in the world. Better than Johnny or Two-Bit and the rest of the gang. Better than Soda, and not so surprisingly better than Darry.

"Nothing," I forced a smile. She's one of my best friends and I hated lying to her. Besides, lying around her was always useless, but always worth a shot.

"No," she countered me. "Pony, I know you. Something's botherin' you. Usually, you need to talk about it, cuz' when ya don't you blow up, sometimes in a violent way, or in tears and I don't wanna see that happen again, you hear? It's happened so many times these past couple months," she said softly. "I don't want you to keep holding things back. You have to trust me again."

"I do trust you," I argued.

"The fact that you're holding things back from me and lyin' proves you don't," she snapped. "If you don't feel like talking about it right now, I get it. But at least don't lie, okay?"

"Fine," I sighed. "I... I hit Steve."

Her eyes bulged wide and then she laughed. "Finally! So what'd he do to make you snap?"

"He told me Darry hated me, that I was just a little tagalong kid that got in everybody's way basically."

"Aw Pone," she laid a hand on my shoulder sympathetically. "C'mon. You know that ain't true. Darry don't hate you."

"How do I know," I was yelling now. "It sure makes sense that he would! I mean, I got in his way of goin' to college, didn't I? I always screw up as far as he's concerned and I'm not even worth wastin' time on! And Soda," I growled. "He always takin' Darry's side when we fight, he had to have known how Dar felt, or maybe he even felt the same way! I can't trust him anymore," I quieted down, finally feeling myself break. "I can't trust anyone, Jade. Who am I supposed to talk to now? I don't have my brother anymore, or any of the guys. What do I do?"

"Me," she whispered and I looked at her puzzled. "You got me to talk to, Ponyboy. You always will I promise. But maybe you should talk to Soda at least-"

"No," I cut her off, going numb, remembering Dally's words again. "Soda's a no good traitor. I'm done with him. He thinks pretending to be all upset when I shut him out is enough to convince me. it ain't gonna work no more."

"Maybe I should talk to him and Darry for you," she offered gently.

I gave her a look as though she were delusional. "Jade," I said slowly. "Just because you know who they are doesn't mean they know who you are."

"But I could talk to them. They'll listen if they know what's goin' on inside your head Pony."

"Like I said," I gritted my teeth angrily. "You know who they are but you don't really _know _them. They won't listen. They'll jump to conclusions and assume that somethin's wrong with me. Nothin' is. I'm gonna go," I said simply, getting up. "See you later."

I didn't even listen to her calling after me as I crossed the street and made my way back home. All that mattered right now was the fact that no one could really understand my brothers' betrayal. Not even Jade, the one person that I thought would always be able to identify with my problems.

The cold feeling of accepting Dally's words washed over me once again. Opening up to Jade was a longshot, I should've known from the beginning. The only person that could truly fix the problems between Darry, Soda, and I was my mother. And she wasn't here now. So there wasn't anything but their minds to figure it out. And between the two of them… it wasn't much. As if they didn't already know anyway.

A voice that scared me on the inside more than anything else filled my head. "Hey Grease!" "You look like you could use a good clobbering!"

**A/N: PLEASE READ! I know you guys might be thinking Jade is butting in a little bit too much to Ponyboy's problems, but really she does have the best intentions. And any Divergent fans, can you please vote on my Poll for either a Tris/Peter pairing or a Tris/Tobias(Four) pairing? I love the books and for some reason after I saw how Peter would look (I couldn't really picture him right in my head) in the movie, I was inspired to write a fanfic, so please vote on the poll! And what do you guys think is gonna happen to Pony next? Will whoever's in the car beat him or will he fight back? Review and you'll find out soon! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Okay guys, I'm well aware you probably all want to kill me for not updating in almost a month and I am so sorry. My only excuse for not updating is pathetic. I've been really tired these past couple weeks and I've been digging in to a stack of books by my bedside so I've also been kinda busy! And for those of you that are concerned Jade may be an OC here for romantic purposes, she's only in this story as a friend for Ponyboy because he feels he isn't able to even talk to Jonny about what's going on. Without further ado, enjoy the story and happy belated Easter!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Outsiders, I'd be the happiest girl ever, but unfortunately I don't. S.E. Hinton does.**

**Ponyboy POV: **I whipped around and drew out my switch within the blink of an eye. Darry didn't like me carrying the thing, but what did he know? He'd never been jumped in his life. He was always Mr. Popular. There was no way normal Greasers would dare walk around without a blade.

"What do y'all want?" I demanded angrily of the Socs as they climbed out of the electric blue Mustang to surround me.

"You ain't got no business speakin' to us, ya filthy Grease!" the Soc with the ginger hair spat at me. "Here's the deal. We're gonna have some fun, clobber you around a little bit, and you ain't gonna tell a soul. Understood?"

I nodded mutely, keeping my face hard. My voice couldn't be trusted; surely if I spoke the façade I wore would mean nothing. It would just give away my fear.

When the Soc took a whip at me, I was ready; I dropped the blade and swung at him with my bare fist. He staggered backwards and his buddy grabbed me from behind, wrapping one arm hard around my neck.

"Get the Grease down, Garrett!" the one I'd hit shouted, as he moved to stand again.

Why had I let go of the damn switch? I mentally cursed myself. Not a moment ago had I been mind-ranting about a Grease always carrying a blade… then I go and drop mine? What was I thinking? Silently I pleaded for Soda, Darry, Two-Bit, Johnny, Dal, any one of the boys to just come and get me out of this mess.

_But you don't need them anymore; _my subconscious reminded me before I had even finished the thought. _Be strong, Ponyboy. Fight back. You can do this._

Struggling against the holds of the Soc called Garrett and a few others; I managed to kick one of them in the stomach, forcing him to release me. My elbow got the other guy in the face, and I was able to wriggle away from Garrett and the boy I'd punched before. But when I went to grab my switchblade, it was gone.

"I kicked it down the sewer," Garrett sneered at me before I even had time to wonder. "Face it, Grease. We're gonna win right now, just like we always do, and there ain't one damn thing you can do to stop us."

"Actually," I growled, my hand curling into a fist. "If I ain't afraid of y'all, there ain't no point in tryin' to hurt me, so go ahead if ya want, but you ain't gonna win."

"Stop spoutin' crap and start actin' like a man if you're gonna use such big words, ya little twerp," the other one said before swinging at me.

I caught his fist in my hand and bent his arm backwards, socking him hard in the gut. His friend, Garrett, grabbed me into a chokehold from behind and I kneed him so that he fell to his knees, groaning in pain.

Turning to their other two friends with my bloody knuckles and tuff demeanor I said, "Y'all wanna try me next?"

Both of them shook their heads quickly, eyes as wide as saucers as they helped their friends to their feet and ran back to their Mustang. That was what I thought.

Stupid, good for nothing Socs. They thought just because I was younger than they were and because I came from the worst neighborhood in town that they could just push me around. Boy, were they wrong.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself briefly as I walked away. _Steve would make one heck of a Soc. _I laughed even more as the thought of Steve acting even semi-classy in a Madras shirt, riding in a Mustang or Stinger popped into my head.

By the time I got back to the house it was getting dark, almost time for dinner; which meant that both Darry and Soda would be home and wondering where I was. As if they even cared. Even if they didn't, I was hungry and I didn't have any money to go to the Dingo. If I did, I just would've gone there and stayed out till eleven like I'd told them.

As soon as the door opened I was crushed into a tight, warm embrace. The scent of the person hugging me was familiar; oil, chocolate cake, and Pepsi. It was Soda hugging me.

I just stood there while he held me and stroked my hair, not feeling any remorse towards him. He didn't seem to notice it all that much, though.

"Oh Ponyboy," he gasped as he gripped me tighter. "You're alright! Thank god! I mean seriously kiddo, you can't run out on me like that you scared me to death!"

Soda pulled back to look at me then, but his face that was etched with worry contorted with terror thee next when he took in my appearance. "Who did this to you?" he spat angrily. "I'll kill em!"

"First of all, stop callin' me a kid," I said cooly, shrugging out of his grasp. "And second, you don't need to kill no one cuz I took care of it myself. I don't need you."

My brother recoiled from me for what was the second time today. "Pone," he whispered. "I just wanna help you."

"Well, ya can't," I said briskly, walking past him into the living room where Two-Bit, Dal, Johnny, and Steve sitting on the floor, staring not at the T.V. but at me. "Darry not home yet?" I asked as if I cared. "Big shocker there."

"Alright, that's it!" Dallas burst out, jumping to his feet. "Kid, you've gotta quit the high and mighty attitude, because it's scarin' the daylights out of all of us quite frankly. You're actin' like… like _me! _And Pony, as touched as I am I've suddenly become your life's role model it's gotta stop, because it just ain't you, kid!"

"Stop callin' me that!" I screamed back at him, getting to my feet too. "So I beat up some Socs. Who cares, they had it comin' to them anyway! They picked a fight with me when I was leaving the library. I just protected myself like y'all always told me I should do! I don't need anyone's help, I've learned that it's just better to only rely on yourself."

I heard someone collapse into a chair behind me and I turned to see Soda yet again with his face buried in his hands. "What did I do wrong?" he whispered brokenly, and even though he didn't look up, I knew he was talking to me.

The part of me that was not yet hardened by what had happened with Steve, wanted to go and comfort my brother, but again I remembered that he'd been taking Darry's side the whole time. He was never _really _interested in helping me. Soda was everyone else's golden boy. He had enough love radiating around him to last one hundred years.

So I decided a little dose of reality would be good for my brother. "Don't play stupid," I snapped. "Just cuz' you dropped out of school it don't mean you're dumb. You know exactly what you did to me. But it's too late anyway because nothing can fix it now."

"Hey!" The loudest, most irritating voice in the world hollered. "Don't you talk to him like that, ya brat! He really cares about you and all you do is stand there throwing insults at him! Grow up, and learn how to be nice to people."

I snorted. "Well you're two years older than me and you _still _haven't grasped that concept, so why should I take advice from you?"

"Because you might do well to appreciate the fact that he dropped out not only because he didn't like school, but because he wanted to help pay the bills to keep you _in _school, you ungrateful little piece of-"

"Finish that sentence Randall and I swear to god you'll be leaving this house as a ghost tonight," I rounded on him and made to stand up when I felt a calloused hand on my shoulder forcing me back down. I fought back an eye roll: It was Darry.

"_What _is goin' on in here?" he demanded, taking in Soda's slouched form, the shocked faces of Dally, Two-Bit and Johnny, and mine and Steve's murderous expressions.

"You're kid brother was rippin' into Soda about nothin'! Now the poor guy thinks he's done somethin' to hurt the kid's feelings and make him act like he's better than anyone else in here."

"I _am _better!" I shouted. "I'm better because I don't talk about people behind their backs and make their lives miserable. I don't like to beat people for fun and crack jokes that may well end up gettin' me killed. And I sure as heck don't hate my younger brother, and pretend to be sympathetic to all his problems when in reality I don't even give a flying hoot!"

Sodapop's head snapped up then and Darry's eyes went wide. _"WHAT?" _they said, flabbergasted.

"Pony, buddy you gotta know that ain't true," Soda said shakily, trying to come closer as I backed myself into the wall to stay away. You gotta know that we _do _love you; so much, kiddo."

"_I'm. Not. A. Kid," _I growled, emphasizing each word slowly and carefully, my voice turning more and more bitter with each syllable. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you so that it gets through your head. Besides, even if you think it's not true, that ain't what I heard," I said before storming out of the room. I would show them I wasn't a kid even if it was the last thing I ever did.

**A/N: Sorry if that chapter was a little repetitive, but it's late here and I've been dying to get something up for you all, I've just barely had the time all month! What do you guys think of Pony's attitude? How long do you think it will take everyone else to figure out that Steve was the one that triggered everything, and how will they intervene when they do? Let me know in a review because I'm going to try and update by tomorrow! And if you guys wouldn't mind doing me a favor, my friend is a fellow writer and she's on Wattpad with an amazing original story called The Darkness Awaits! Make sure to look her up and R&R for her if you love me! Her username is vov123456! Anyway, review for my story too and I'll be back tomorrow for sure! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi guys! Once again, I know I've been missing for a month and I'm honestly so sorry, but my weekends as well as weekdays have been hectic with schoolwork and family outings and such! But hey, I only have one more week of craziness before summer break and then I'll be free to write to my heart's content for all of you! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders. Only S.E. Hinton holds that great of an honor.**

**Sodapop POV: **All of us stood there in a shocked silence, not even Two-Bit knew what to say to that. Finally, Johnny said the one thing we all felt summed it up.

"Glory," he breathed. "Somethin' is really wrong here."

I turned to him, "Johnnycake, has he talked to you at all today since he hit Steve?" I asked, my eyes pleading with him.

The poor kid looked a little startled at being spoken to directly, but he just shrugged his shoulders sadly and shook his head. "Nah, I'm sorry man," he muttered. "I ain't really seen him too much since school this mornin' and the couple times he's stormed in and outta the house. I've been with y'all this whole time."

He was right; how could I have forgotten that Pony hadn't spoken to any one of us very much all day, let alone Johnny? Still, I wasn't able to let my frustration go. "Well then, where in the same heck did he run off to earlier that he got jumped by Socs?" I wondered furiously as I kicked a wall. "He got any friends from school around those parts, Two-Bit?"

For the first time I can really remember, Two-Bit actually looked kind of nervous as he shook his head. "No, not really," he said carefully. "I know he's got a couple from track, but they're middle class guys, the usually don't hang around Soc territory. And anyways, I don't think Pony hangs with them too much outside of school anyway, they ain't good enough friends for that."

"What do ya mean," Darry asked, sounding pained. "They don't wanna hang with him outside of school?"

"I don't reckon it's that, Dar. Just that he always hangs with us after, so I guess they kinda assume he's always busy, ya know?"

Darry's shoulders seemed to slump a little at that, as did mine. It was kinda sad that Pony felt like he couldn't have a life outside of us.

Darry turned to me then. "It's getting late," he said. "Maybe before bed you can try and get him to talk things out with you a little," he suggested.

I nodded, shrugging sadly. "I could try. But with everything that happened today, I doubt he's gonna listen to me."

"Well you need to try!" he argued back firmly.

I opened my mouth to argue back at him, but Johnny surprised us all. _"ENOUGH!" _he hollered, his uncharacteristically small frame shook with what looked to be a mixture of fear and annoyance. "Look," he panted. "I know ya both care about Pone, but so do we. And I for one, ain't gonna sit here while you just bicker about talkin' to him, when you could be in that room _really _talkin' to him right now!" he fumed, taking a few deep breathes to calm down.

All of us stood there, mouths agape for a moment staring at little Johnny. Johnny who never once hollered at any one of us, who was afraid to even open his mouth to ask for somethin' to eat, had yelled at us. But even in the silence, we all knew he never would've said anything had it been anyone other than his best friend. Suddenly, he took a deep breath and sighed as he stood up, heading to the door. "I'm gonna go catch some shut eye in the lot if y'all need me. I'll come by and crash on the couch later if it gets too cold. There ain't no way I'm goin' home tonight."

Without another word he exited the house, leaving us still in the aftershock of his outburst. "Well," Two-Bit said slowly, making the awkward tension in the air even worse. "I'd better go too. I was supposed to meet up with Kathy tonight anyways. Y'all call me if ya need me!" and then he bolted out the door.

"Yeah, uh me too," Dally grunted. "I'm gonna go down to Bucks, see if we can talk about settin' up another match soon. Not that I need an excuse," he added tersely before slipping out the door as well.

That left Darry, Steve and me standing there. Steve just shrugged it all off. "Well I ain't gonna make up some dumb excuse to beat it outta here, I honestly don't care what happens to the kid at this point, I just wanna put some ice on this damn rib and crash out on the couch."

My hand was reaching out to smack the back of my stupid best friend's head, but Darry caught me before I made contact. "Don't," he said softly to me before turning to Steve. "I don't care about you crashing on the couch, you know that. Icepacks are in the freezer and don't you dare say you don't care about Pony. You're the one that started this whole damn mess in the first place; so you'd better care or you ain't gonna come in this house no more, ya hear me Randle?"

He looked terrified at the last statement and nodded, turning to go into kitchen to grab his ice.

Darry turned to me then and his eyes were gentle. "Go talk to Pony," he said it low enough so that Pony wouldn't be able to hear from the other room. "Maybe with the gang gone he'll finally open up. You know how he hates cryin' or acting vulnerable in front of them."

I nodded, knowing he was right. "Yeah, I'll go talk to him. Want me to come out here and tell you what's up when I'm done?"

He shook his head no. "That's just gonna make him close up more if he thinks you'll run straight to me after. At least wait till mornin' when he's outside watching the sunrise or whatever. I swear I don't think I'll ever understand that kid," he mused under his breath. "I mean, what's the appeal of watching the sun rise and set all the time? It ain't like he's never gonna see the damn sun again."

Darry didn't know I'd heard him though, because I was halfway down the hall to mine and Pony's room. I had to bite my lip to hold back the laugh that was bubbling up, though.

I rapped twice gently on the door so that I wouldn't scare him. "Pone," I called. "You okay, honey?"

When there was no answer, a feeling of unease started to creep in my chest. There wasn't a viable reason for it though. He was probably just asleep or somethin'. It's been a long day and I wouldn't blame the kid if he decided to knock out early. Pony deserves the extra shut eye anyway, what with all those nightmares he gets.

"Alright kiddo I'm comin' in," I muttered before pushing the door open and seeing the lights shut off, and a large lump under the covers.

I couldn't help but crack a smile. When he was under those sheets he wasn't the cold and bitter version of himself that was starting to surface. He was just my baby brother; just my Pony. Sitting on the bed, I started to playfully tickle him over the blankets. Sure, he needed his sleep, but this talk hopefully won't take too long. "C'mon Pone," I murmured, edging closer to the blankets. "Wake up little buddy, I wanna talk to you."

When I went to try tickling again though, my hand sunk a little too deep into what I thought was his back; but it was far too soft to be. The feeling of dread washed over me again and sent my head spinning. Feeling myself start to grow sick, I slowly peeled back the covers and confirmed my feeling.

Pony wasn't in bed. This was just a pile of stacked pillows and blankets. Glancing in the direction of our window, I saw that was almost all the way open, just big enough for him to crawl out of.

My hand smacked to my forehead and I shut my eyes tight. _Aw Pone, _I thought miserably. _Why would you do this to me, little buddy?_

He could've snuck out and gone to the lot or something. As far as I knew that'd be the only place he'd go. He'd probably just wanted to talk to Johnny. That's what I wanted myself to believe, but the feeling in my stomach wouldn't ease up. There was no way I'd ever get past Darry without telling him where I was going at this hour. My stomach twisted even worse. _Darry. _I had no choice. I needed to tell Darry that Ponyboy was gone. Maybe he _was _just out with Johnny. But if he wasn't, and didn't come home by morning, then it would all be my fault.

Still feeling nauseous, I lurched to my feet and dragged myself back out into the living room where Steve was sprawled out on the couch flipping through channels and Darry was in the armchair relaxing and reading the paper.

The voice that came out of my mouth didn't even sound like mine. "Darry," I gasped.

"What is it, Sodapop? Pony okay?" he asked, lifting his eyes from the paper to look at me. It only took one look at my expression for his entire face to pale. "What is it? What's happening?" he demanded urgently.

"Ponyboy ain't in his room, Dar," I said faintly.

Darry snorted. "Very funny, Pepsi-Cola. Where else would he be?"

"I dunno," I whispered. "All I know is he put a bunch of pillows on the bed to make it look like he was sleepin' and our window's wide open. He's gone, Darry."

**A/N: Muahahahahahaha cliffy! Where do you guys think Pony went? Do you think he ran away like in the book? Or do you think he actually snuck out to go somewhere? Let me know in a review and I'll tell you as soon as possible! I'm gonna do my best to update this weekend but we'll see because I have to study for finals, so you'll most definitely get something by next Friday! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello my lovelies! Sorry this chapter is a week later than I promised, but I needed a relaxation break after a week of finals. Now I'm back and I can write for you for the rest of the summer! Now, it's time for all of you to find out where Pony ran off to, because as you all so eloquently pointed out, I've known all along (haha)! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own the Outsiders. That pleasure belongs solely to S.E. Hinton.**

**Ponyboy POV: **The cool nighttime air felt nice on my bear arms. Again, I'd forgotten to grab a jacket or a sweatshirt before I left the house. But this time, I actually had a good reason for _not _having one. Going to grab it from the front room would have alerted Darry and Soda that I was headed out, and that was the absolute _last _thing I wanted right now.

The nerve they had to still deny their hatred towards me, even though they _knew _their cover had been blown! It sickened me to my core. Neither one of them wanted me around. I was just an inconvenience to them both. I don't understand why. They sure as heck were never as obedient and hard working at my age then I am now.

When Darry was my age I remember almost every Saturday night for two months he'd sneak out to go see some girl, ask Soda to cover for him, and then when mom and dad found out he was gone and Soda bailed, I was the one that would try and make up some crappy lie to keep him out of trouble.

And Soda would sneak off to the stables in the middle of the night and practice his riding, even after dad specifically told him not to.

Me on the other hand; I was always the good one. The one with good grades and a sports star. I never snuck out past my curfew to see girls (I'm not really interested too much in them yet anyway), or went somewhere else I wasn't supposed to go. Yet, mom and dad were gone by the time I had the chance to earn their attention. Nobody cared to come see my meets now, or come to a "parent"-teacher conference every once in a while. Hell, I'd be surprised if Darry so much as tried to get the day off for my high school graduation.

So for once, I wasn't going to be the good one. I was gonna sneak out and go find myself a good time. If they found out I snuck out, so what? There's not much they can do to me without becoming massive hypocrites themselves. Even if Soda is a liar, being made a hypocrite is something he wouldn't stand for.

In the back of my mind, a voice nagged at me as I avoided the vacant lot. _Are you sure you wanna do this? I know you're doing it to disobey Darry, but Buck scares the daylights outta you anyway. You should just go home. Go home and then tomorrow hunt up Curly Shepard and look for a fight. Wouldn't that be better?_

_No, _I shook my head ever so slightly, dismissing the stupid voice. It didn't matter if Buck scared me. He may be bigger than me, but I knew if you wanted something from him, you had to bully him. He was a weakling at heart. That was why Dally could handle him so easily.

A few minutes later I approached Buck's doorstep, cringing at the Hank Williams I could hear blasting throughout the house. But judging by the loud cackling and shouting, there was one heck of a party going on there tonight, and I wasn't about to miss it just because the guy's music taste annoyed me a little.

I banged on the door hard four times, so he'd hear me. Sure enough, Buck was at the door in thirty seconds. He took in the sight of me slowly, appearing a little bit out of it (he must've had a drink or been in a fight or somethin'). After a moment he grunted, "What do ya want, kid? You know your brother don't like ya hangin' round here; says I'm a bad influence," he guffawed at his own words and then looked at me again, waiting for my answer.

For a moment I couldn't though, because there was that word again. _Kid. _It echoed over and over again in my head.

Apparently I was taking too long because Buck lazily waved a hand in front of my face and asked. "Well, what is it, kid? You better tell me quick, cuz I wanna chance to party before I'm dead."

Trying to ignore the angry pang that shot through me at the word _kid _again, I put on a tough grimace and squared my shoulders, puffing out my chest. "I wanna party too," I said forcefully. "I'm sick of bein' bossed around. Somebody just needs to let me be a normal Grease and party. So lemme in, Buck," I pushed past him before he could say another word.

My eyes roamed around trying to find something fun to do. In one room, people were riding on the mechanical bull Buck kept for practice when he couldn't make it down to the stables (but mostly he kept it for nights like this), and in the other room there were couples dancing all around.

Normally, if I were to come somewhere like this with Sodapop on occasion, I'd just go sit in a corner and talk to Curly while Soda went to go pick up girls. I could actually see Curly's brother Tim and some other guys I knew goin' on about something a little ways over, but I wouldn't be the chilled guy I normally was tonight. I decided I'd try the bull instead.

When the guy on it fell off (after about ten seconds) I snatched the cowboy hat off his head and mounted myself onto the old hunk of metal. "Put this thing on high!" I shouted at Tim, who was now standing over by the lever.

He was looking at me like he didn't even recognize me; which he probably didn't. I mean, it was ultimately clear I had turned over a new leaf tonight. "You sure about this, Curtis?" he called back.

_If only Soda and Darry could see me now, _I thought cockily. _They'd skin my hide if they saw me right now: and then Darry would have an aneurism. _I chuckled heartily at the image of Darry's infuriated face before giving Tim the thumbs up.

Before I knew it I felt the bull rocking back and forth at a rapid speed, and my fingers started to detach from the reins without my control. The last thing I heard was, "Glory kid, what the hell do ya think you're doin?!"

**A/N: Woah, cliffy! Who do you guys think that was? And how do you feel about Pony sneaking off to go to a party? Next chapter, you're going to get a bit of a deeper insight to Pony's emotions than I've been sharing and it should help explore the depth of his problems a little more so that nobody's confused, because I know lately I've been really repetitive haha! I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow if you guys review! I love you!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hehe, I know not tomorrow like I said it would be, but at least this time it's only been about a week or two! Anyway, I was so excited to see so many guesses on who yelled at Pony before he passed out and some of you even got it right! Like I said, this chapter you're going to see a slightly darker and different side to Ponyboy than you've been seeing, and most of the repetitiveness will stop. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I could never write a good coming of age story like the Outsiders. The book and characters belong to S.E. Hinton.**

**Pony POV: **I felt the throbbing pain in the back of my head even before I'd regained consciousness. My entire body ached like I'd just been hit by a bus. Opening my eyes groggily, I realized I was not in my own room as my vision cleared. Where am I?

"Would ya look at that? The bull rider finally decided to grace me with his presence," a cold and bitter voice that I recognized all too well said. Dally.

"Dal? What happened?" I groaned as I tried to sit up.

He hauled me up roughly, and that was the first time I really saw him. Dally looked livid in his usual dark leather jacket and blue jeans. He was pacing the floor practically shaking with rage. "What the hell was goin' through your mind when you got on that bull, kid? I mean, were you tryin' to prove somethin'? 'Cuz if you were I don't have a damn clue what it was!"

I grunted as I remembered what I'd been doing before I'd passed out. Riding that bull had meant something to me, alright. It meant looking tuff and being independent for once in my life. It meant that I could do whatever I wanted, despite what Darry had always _claimed _he'd wanted for me before I'd found out he thought of me as a waste of space. But I couldn't explain that to Dally. I couldn't ever tell anyone about what Steve had told me, and he wouldn't tell anyone because he was too scared of Darry. I was sure Darry wouldn't mind though.

"Hell yeah I had somethin' to prove!" I shouted at him. "I ain't no helpless little squirt anymore, Dally and it's time y'all got that through your busted up heads and stopped treatin' me like one!"

"That's it!" Dally roared. "I've had enough of your crap, kid. So you listen and you listen good. If you was anyone but Darry and Soda's brother I'd beat the tar outta ya here and now! As much as I hate to admit it, I care about ya, man, we all do! So you'd better fess up and tell me what's goin' on before Darry bashes your head in!"

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," I said defiantly.

"The hell ya don't! You know what I'm talkin' about. What happened this mornin' to make you doubt everything so much, kid? What the heck could Steve have said that made you this bitter in a matter of hours? And don't you give me any of the 'I don't know what you're talkin' about crap because I damn well know you do!"

"That's none of anyone's business," I said coldly, believing it the moment it came out of my mouth. "It has nothin' to do with what's goin' on with me, Dal?"

He scoffed. "Oh, so I'm supposed to believe that you just trotted on over here to ride a bull and fall off and pass out like a dumb idiot? I don't think so, Pony. Hell, ya ain't even allowed to be here usually, what was Darry thinkin' lettin' you come on over here at this hour?"

I winced and as I shut my eyes I saw a cloud of realization pass over him. "Wait a sec," he said slowly. "You mean to tell me that Darry and Soda don't have a clue you're here?"

"They probably do now," I shrugged nonchalantly. "Soda should be headin' to bed right about now anyway."

"YOU SNUCK _OUT?!" _he screamed at me. "THEY'RE PROBABLY HAVIN' A FIT LOOKIN' FOR YOU AND YOU'RE ACTIN' LIKE YOU DON'T HAVE A CARE IN THE WORLD?!"

"Dal, calm down," I sighed. "I know this was kinda a dumb move but-"

"AW HELL KID, IT AINT DUMB! DUMB IS ME WHEN I TRY TO CROSS DARRY AND IF HE FINDS YA HERE WITH ME, HE'S GONNA KILL ME! _ME _YOU IDIOT!"

"Dal listen, don't take me home yet they probably don't even know, I just need to come up with some excuse to-"

"SHUT YOUR TRAP!" he roared at me. "I'm taking you home right now, kid. And they're gonna have your head."

**Sodapop POV: **Me, Darry, and Steve were frantic. We had searched everywhere for Pony and still couldn't find him. Darry said another hour and he'd call the police.

Our momentarily deafening silence was broken by a phone ringing. I went to grab it but Darry stopped me and picked it up himself.

"Hello?!" he said urgently, and Steve and I sat up near the edge of our chairs, expecting news.

"WHAT?!" Darry screamed, making me and Steve each jump a foot out of our chairs. "Why in God's name would he ever go there? He knows he ain't supposed to even be there, much less sneak over there. I can come get him."

I rose from my chair, begging him with my hands to give me _something. Anything _as long as he told me where my baby brother was, and if he was safe. "Alright," he muttered into the phone. "Thanks Dal, see ya soon." And then he slammed the phone back into the cradle shaking his head.

"What's the matter?" I asked at the same time Steve said, "Where's the kid?"

"He snuck out to a party at Buck's and rode a bull," Darry said, his voice sounding strained. "He passed out and now that he's up and Dally's chewed him out, Dally's bringing him back here."

I think I literally heard Steve's mouth hit the floor as I slumped back in my chair thinking, _why Pony?_

**A/N: Okay, now that we've heard Dally chew out Pony the brotherly confrontation can wait till next chapter as it's late and I'm super tired! Tell me what you guys thought, if Dally was too harsh or just right, and how you think it'll go when Pony gets home? Review and I'll be back by Friday! Love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: PLEASE READ YOU GUYS THIS IS IMPORTANT! Okay, I am SO sorry I haven't updated in almost four months, any of you who follow me know I do update late sometimes, but never like this. Honestly, there is no excuse other than I've been so busy since I last updated with school and other commitments, I'm involved so heavily and I'm hardly ever home, so it gets increasingly harder to sit down and crank out a chapter worthy for all of you. Plus, as of late I've been having computer problems, so that's yet another topping on the pizza. I hope you can all forgive me and stick by me after my unexpected hiatus, because I truly do love you guys and writing more than anything. Another thing, please forgive me for leaving you with the cliffhanger; I didn't expect to be away this long. I'm gonna shut up now and let you guys enjoy the story.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Outsiders, I'd be the happiest person on earth. But I don't… so yeah.**

**Steve POV: **What happened after the phone call is something I never thought I'd see; Soda fuming right along with Darry instead of calming him down. If they were gonna guess anywhere the kid would go to hide, it wouldn't have been Buck's place. The fact that he'd gone there and made a complete idiot of himself baffled all of us to no end.

Well, not me so much. I've always known the kid was stupid. Yeah, he got grades better than any Grease to ever live around these parts, but he had no idea how to handle himself out in the real world. You think he'd learn after all these years trailing after us like a homeless puppy, but no, not a single time has he ever been able to take on his problems alone. We always had to end up going to save his ass.

That's the reason why I said what I did, and I don't regret one word of it. He may have a hard time, but it ain't easy for me to come here to get away from my old man yellin' only to hear Darry blowing up at Pony again over some stupid math equation.

None of us enjoy his company one hundred percent of the time. We can't deck him if he pisses us off, or Soda will kill us, he ain't no good in a fight, he acts like he's better than us just because he knows he's gonna get out of this crap town one day and we aren't, and he's always too quiet, never up for a laugh.

The only one who didn't see through this little scum ball's game was Soda. Soda adored the kid, and had never minded taking him anywhere with us. Sometimes I envy the attention he gives Ponyboy. He's supposed to be out with us havin' a good time, pickin' up broads and goin' to rodeos. Instead he's always doting on the little kid, not paying attention to anything else. It makes me sick.

If I could change anything about earlier though, it would be to cause my best friend the least amount of pain possible. Soda didn't deserve to feel like he'd done anything wrong and neither did Darry. They'd done all they could possibly do for this kid in the past six months, they don't need to feel like they've loved him any less than they would be if their mom and dad were still around.

Any guilt I felt disappeared when the door burst open. I sat up a little straighter and sniggered inside my head. This was gonna be good.

**Soda POV: **Darry and I were in front of the door in a flash. Normally, I would've calmed Darry down by now, told him to give Pony a break and that he was being unreasonable. But this time, I stood with my older brother. For Pony to go from this happy, sweet kid to a bitter and cold younger Dally in the span of a few hours wasn't normal at all.

Dallas stormed in, dragging my younger brother roughly behind him by the arm. For a moment, I felt my love for my baby brother overtake me. His face was battered and bruised, and I could see a slight bump forming on his forehead. He must've fallen really hard.

The feeling didn't last long as I remembered what had gotten him into the state he was in in the first place. If he'd just stayed put like he normally would've, he would be perfectly fine right now.

Pony straightened up when Dally stopped, and froze when he met my eyes. I tried to convey how worried about him I was with my eyes, but he just stared back at me blank, unmoving, a perfect poker face.

From the corner of my eye, I could see that Darry's face mirrored mine, but his anger was slightly outweighing his concern.

As always, Two-Bit was the one to break the silence; but this time it wasn't a joke that came out of his mouth. "Um, I'm gonna take off y'all," he said awkwardly. "My mom's comin' home early tonight, and I figure she might want to… talk to me. See ya guys later," and then he dashed out the door.

Steve stood too and came over to me. "I'm gonna head out too, buddy," he said to me. "Call if you need anything." He said his goodbyes to Darry and then turned to where Pony was standing clutched under Dally's grip. He gave Pone a dirty look that seemed to convey a warning, and Ponyboy gave one jerk of the head as a nod before returning the look just as intensely. Then Steve walked out the door.

Now all that was left was me, Dal, Dar, and Pony. "Dally," Darry said, almost too calmly. Can you help Pony over to the couch and then go please? I think we have some things we need to discuss as a family.

Dally nodded solemnly back at him and literally threw a very weak looking Ponyboy onto the couch. "Just so ya know," he said, rounding on us. "I already ripped into him pretty good about the whole thing, and if I were you, I'd make him tell you exactly what happened with Steve this mornin'. He ain't told me a thing, but I have a really odd feeling that's what's happening here." and then Dal looked back at our little brother one last time, a hint of concern written on his face, and then he walked out the door.

"_So," _Darry uttered through gritted teeth. "Had a good ol' time, did you?"

"Yup," Pony smirked, clearly knowing it would just irk Darry that much more. "It was awesome, I didn't thing bull riding could be that exhilarating; I see why y'all dig rodeos now."

"Well I'm glad you got it out of your system," Darry retorted. "Because you sure as hell ain't goin' anywhere but school and the DX to see Soda for the next month at least."

"Whatever," he shrugged. "We done now? Can I go to my room and actually make a dent in my book tonight?"

"I stood there flabbergasted at Pony's nonchalance over the whole situation unable to get a word out before he left the room. Darry turned to me then and rubbed his temple with his forefinger. "The one time he doesn't fight me," he shook his head. "It's weird, this time I was hoping he'd blow up and spout the "You've hated me since mom and dad died crap. At least that way, I could've brought up the whole Steve issue easier. Now there's no way he'd ever say anything to either of us."

"I just don't get it," I muttered. "How could I have not seen that things between my brother and my best friend were this bad?"

"We all thought you knew," Darry said, attempting to appease me. "If I'd ever thought you didn't, I would've said something."

"But what could Steve have said that would have made him react this way? Make him turn into a mini _Dallas?"_

"Whatever it was Pepsi-Cola, it must've been bad. Otherwise we wouldn't be in this mess."

"How do I get him to tell me? He thinks I hate him."

"But that has to be because of something Steve said to him today," Darry reasoned. "The poor kid never would've come up with that on his own."

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. "Do you think he might talk about it in his sleep tonight?" I demanded.

All of a sudden his eyes snapped up and he grinned at me real big. "And you call yourself dumb," he chuckled. "That's the best theory we've come up with all day."

My expression twisted, not sure whether or not to take that as a compliment. "Um… thanks," I said.

"When he starts talking tonight, you wake up and you listen for anything that could help us get to the bottom of this, you hear?"

"You got it," I gave him a thumbs-up and stifled a yawn. "I think the mission's gonna have to start a little early though," I chuckled. "I'm beat."

He chuckled and plopped down into dad's old armchair in front of the TV. "That makes two of us," he agreed. "Goodnight, little buddy."

I muttered a goodnight as I made my way to the room. It was silent inside, but luckily this time around Pony was lying passed out on the bed, with an open book on his chest.

The sight of my baby brother looking so innocent and normal made me smile, and wish yet again for everything to go back to the way it was. Slowly as not to wake him, I dog-eared the page of his book and set it on the bedside table. Leaning down, I kissed the top of his head and whispered "I love you, kiddo," before turning out the lights and settling in beside him. I had to be prepared for a long night.

After about an hour of endless waiting, I heard Ponyboy let out a strangled "No!" and my eyes bolted open. It was starting.

**A/N: Well there we go! What did you guys think about getting into Steve's head a little bit? Has he been justified or do we still hate him? And do you think Darry and Soda will hear about what Steve said in Pony's sleep? What else will they find out? Instead of promising that I'll update a lot sooner, how about we try updates every weekend or every other weekend as I'm really busy? Review and I promise I'll come back this time! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Okay, I thought I'd updated this story with the others two weeks ago, but apparently I started the chapter and didn't finish! As a result I'd like to issue a very belated Happy Thanksgiving to all and say that I am thankful to each and every one of you every day for supporting me for as long as you have. Those of you who are familiar with my writing know I usually don't take this long to finish a story, but school has been pushing me to the breaking point this year and it's hard to find time to update for you all. However, as I said to my other readers, I am now starting an every other weekend update policy at latest. That's much better than before in my opinion and I miss you all too much when I'm away so… yeah. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the Outsiders I'd be one happy Greaser gal, but they belong to S.E. Hinton.**

**Darry POV: **I was lying in bed waiting for my cue, when all of a sudden I heard Ponyboy scream "No!" that was it. I jumped out of bed and tore open my door, making a beeline for Soda and Pony's room.

I stopped in the doorway to see Soda give me a single nod of confirmation. "It's starting," he told me.

As Pony squirmed, I went and sat on the edge of the bed, next to Sodapop. "No mama, don't go! I need you!" Pony cried. Both Soda and I winced. Even now, the mention of our late mother was hard to endure. Remembering that they would never walk into the house again was too much for any one of us.

Then came something neither one of us had ever heard before. "No! You're wrong! I'm not a tagalong kid! I don't need anyone to take care of me!"

"That's new," Soda mused, voicing my thoughts. He turned to me. "You think Steve might'a said somethin' like that to him?"

"Probably. He couldn't have got that anywhere else as far as I know. Keep listenin', Pepsi-Cola."

"Soda I'm sorry!" Pone began to sob and Soda jolted as though he'd been shocked. "I'm sorry I'm such an annoying little brother! I promise I'll leave you alone! Please don't hate me!"

I heard my middle brother gasp and shakily scramble for words of comfort to offer in our baby brother's ear.

Subconsciously, my hand shot out to stroke his hair. "It's okay little buddy," I promised him. "It's alright. We know where he got the idea. We can talk some sense into him now."

He tried to nod and control the warm tears rolling down his face, but judging by the shaky breath and the sniffling he wasn't doing a very good job.

I gently tugged on his arm. "Here," I nudged him. "Come outside with me. I wanna talk to you."

"B-b-but what about Ponyboy?" he demanded through his tears. "What if he wakes up and thinks I left him? Imagine how much good that's gonna do, Dar!"

It was times like these that I remembered even Soda had a breaking point. He always tried to put on a positive front, make others smile in their time of pain. I swear sometimes I dunno how I would've picked myself up after mom and dad died if Soda hadn't been there to pull me out of my funk. The three of us would've ended up on the streets for sure. Or I would've been jailed for inadequate guardianship or something, more accurately, and Pony and Soda would've been thrown into the boys' home.

"I promise you he won't think that little buddy," I whispered, not sure just how much I could promise anymore. "Just come out into the hall real quick and you can get back to him."

He hesitated for a moment and then nodded, kissing the top of Pony's head before he stood and followed me out the door and shut it halfway.

Once we were out the door, Soda turned to face me looking just as shaken up as he had in the room. Now however, there was a hint of something dangerous in my younger brother's eyes. I knew that look. That was the look Soda got whenever he blew his top. I didn't like that look. That look was associated with violence, destruction, and hatred. Whenever he got that look, you knew you weren't safe until you made things right with him again. Usually I would disapprove of that look; it was well-warranted now.

"Well, I never thought I'd say this," he said breathing heavily, the anger setting in deeper. "But right now, I am going to find Steve Randall, beat the crap outta him, and make him pay for what he's done to Pony."

Soda began to make a move toward the door but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Sodapop," I said, trying to force some rationality into my tone. "Don't you think we should at least talk to Ponyboy first? When he wakes up we can tell him what we heard and he'll tell us everything that went down today."

He only rolled his eyes at me. "Aw, shoot Darry! You know he ain't gonna talk to us about it! He's only gonna deny he ever said anything and run away. The poor kid thinks we hate him, for god's sake!"

"Well then we're just gonna have to get him to talk to us somehow!" I argued back. "Whether he likes it or not he needs to tell us what Steve said so that we can all deal with it together as a family."

Sodapop threw his hands in the air then. "Golly Darry, don't you see? Steve isn't a part of our family anymore, not since he said that stuff to Ponyboy! The gang may be our friends but I can see now that they are _not_ our family!"

"You don't mean that."

"You can bet on mom and dad's grave that I mean it! We're all we got left now and that ain't gonna change just cuz' we got a couple of good friends! My little brother comes before any friend I have and if that means I have to cut Steve outta my life so that my brother will see that I love him, then I'll do it!"

He was breathing heavily from exertion now, and his face was dark red from his lack of breath. That was when I knew that he was right. Sodapop never got this worked up over anything, and the rare times he did it was usually well spotted.

Not wanting to believe it I sighed and went to sit in the chair by the television resting my head in my hands. "You're right," I breathed dejectedly. "Just… do what you have to do and be done with it."

"Right now?"

"Yes… the sooner the better. We just need to deal with Ponyboy for now. Then, when we're ready, we can deal with Steve again."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to deal with Steve again after what's about to happen," Soda said, sounding more mechanic than human as he turned away from me.

"Me neither, little buddy," I assured him. "Me neither."

**A/N: Ooooo, severed ties are coming! What did you guys think? Was that at all as dramatic as I intended it to be? I'd just like to apologize yet again for the unplanned and brief hiatus this story went on. I suppose I'm just worried you all will give up on me; am I being silly? Now, my every-other-week policy still stands, but after tomorrow I'm on winter break for a couple weeks so updates should be more frequent if you leave reviews! I love you all very much!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: I'M HERE! I told you guys I'd be back and here I am! I would love to thank everyone for not giving up on me and I just need to say thank you again because after three years of writing fanfics you guys have been the most devoted readers I could ever hope for, so thank you all I love you very much! Now, for what you've all been waiting for *cues drum roll* Soda confronting Steve! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned the gang, I would need absolutely nothing for Christmas. But they belong to S.E. Hinton; so unfortunately, Santa will not be delivering Rob Lowe to my stalking this year.**

**Sodapop POV: **As I walked up the driveway to Steve's place, I took note of the fact that his father's car was not in the driveway. That was perfectly fine with me; what I was about to do would be hard enough without having to go through his drunk, grumpy old man. No matter what Steve did, he would never deserve to live the way he did now.

Stopping in front of the door, I drew in a deep breath of the cold air and knocked three times. You could only count to ten in the time it took Steve to answer. When he looked up at me, his expression was a mixture of shock and… fear? Maybe he was afraid something had happened to me or Johnny, maybe he'd been expecting Evie. I didn't care.

"H-hey buddy," he stuttered, a smile growing on his face, his eyebrows pulling together like he was confused. "What's the matter?"

"Can we talk?" I said bluntly, not wanting to prolong this any further than necessary.

"Yeah of course, man; c'mon in."

"No," I told him shaking my head. "I meant can we talk out here? I can't stay and I need to make this quick."

Steve looked taken aback at my cool attitude towards him, but still nodded and followed me out to the driveway, looking like a criminal being taken to his execution. He knew what was about to happen, that much was clear.

When we got down to the middle of the drive, I turned to face him. He looked guiltier than a kid who peeked at his Christmas presents the night before Christmas. "Look," I told him. "We know what you said to Pony to make him beat you. He didn't just come after you."

"He told you," Steve said. It wasn't a question. His voice came out sounding almost like that of a robot's.

"No," I shook my head. "We figured he'd talk in his sleep, so we stayed up to listen, and he did."

"Oh," he wasn't even looking at me now.

"Why would you tell him any of that?" I demanded miserably. "You know it ain't true, and you know what he went through after my mom and dad died! Why would you wanna hurt him like this? Why, when you know that we're all he has left to hang onto from the life we had before?"

"I was just havin' a bad day," he told me, looking ashamed. "The kid and I… we don't get along in case you didn't notice. And uh… when you told me to go and make sure he got home alright I guess I had just kinda had it. I mean, you always would rather look out for him than go out and have fun! He's your brother, you see him all the time! I'm your best friend, Soda! You should at least carve out time to spend with a buddy!"

"I _do _spend time with you, dumbass! I don't bring Pony along cuz' he asks, I bring him cuz' I want him around! He ain't got too many friends besides the gang, and I always promised him I'd look out for him! You can't just go and try to destroy that, Steve."

"I didn't mean to!" He shouted, begging me to understand now. "He just annoys the hell outta me, and I wasn't in the mood today and I decided to mess with his head, it wasn't a good move and I am _really _sorry, buddy."

"I believe you," I told him, and he smiled. "But only because I know how you act when you're sorry about somethin'. It don't change the fact that you may have forever destroyed my relationship with my little brother, who I love more than my own damn life, and his relationship with Darry. Hell Steve, their relationship was screwed up before this whole mess, now it probably doesn't even exist anymore, and that is _not _okay with me."

"Soda I-I-I-"

"No," I cut him off. "I don't wanna hear anymore, alright? I get that you're sorry, but that doesn't mean I can forgive you right now. Let's face it, unless Ponyboy sees sense anytime soon, I don't know if I'll _ever_ let myself forgive you."

"Well what the hell is _that _supposed to mean?" his voice was cold, he was on the offensive now. I knew him well enough to know that I was hurting him. So many people had walked out of his life and it killed him. If you had told me yesterday that I'd be doin' this, I'd have called you a nutcase, but now there was no other solution.

"It means," I said slowly. "Don't come by my house. Don't talk to me or either one of my brothers ever again. Not unless Pony's forgiven us and said it's okay for you to come and really apologize to him? You got that?"

"Got it," he retorted. "Anything else?"

The words I said next broke me, because I knew then that I was losing my best buddy. "Have a nice life."

And then I ran all the way home. It didn't matter to me so much that I had to cut Steve outta my life. Sure, it hurt because we've been buddies since grade school, but my little brother meant more to me.

When I got to the house, Darry met me at the doorway. "Well?" he asked, looking at me like he knew the waterworks were about to start. He always knew me way better than I knew myself.

All I could do was nod, because just as I made a move to speak, the tears started to fall.

**A/N: Well, that was very emotionally heavy on my part. I know you all may feel a little bad for Steve, but this had to be done. Leave a review and tell me how you think they'll confront Pony about his sleep-confession, and how you think Steve is feeling right now. Have a Merry Christmas and be safe everyone, I'll see you Friday! I love you!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**PLEASE READ DO NOT SKIP THIS AN :D**

**Hey everyone! Sorry this isn't another chapter just yet. I just wanted to clear up a misconception that I was pretty sure would come up granted than Ponyboy is so out of character in this story. Just to be clear I'm not bashing the idea at all it's not at all a bad one, and I usually take all your ideas into my stories, but seeing as I don't mean for this fic to be a story of battling addiction I can't use it :(. This story wasn't ever intended to have any drug usage of any kind, it was just a story that showcases how Steve's uncanny jerk-like qualities can blow things far out of proportion. Now that Soda and Darry know what Steve said to Ponyboy the healing process can begin. Once again, it is not that I didn't think the idea could be useful, I just don't find it completely appropriate! Thanks guys, Merry Christmas! Read on!**

**Love,**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**

**Btw next chapter will be up Friday! I love you all and once again I didn't mean to hurt any feelings! Xoxoxo :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hi everyone! PLEASE READ THIS because I would like to sincerely apologize for the brief hiatus this story went on. I had intended for this to be at least 30 chapters by now but because I'm at very crucial years in my schooling I am finding it hard to balance what I love most (writing for all of you) with my seemingly never-ending education. I mean I want to be a writer, who needs math and science anyway, lol? Anyway, this weekend and moving forward I plan to be much more proactive with this story. I want to immerse myself in my writing again, which I haven't done in a very long time. Plus, any of you that read my other story know that I never used to be this bad at keeping a schedule. Please, please, PLEASE sound off in the comments and reassure me that you all don't hate me! Anyways, enjoy! (I read some reviews just now and I know y'all hate me so some love would be much appreciated)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned both the book and movie versions of the Outsiders my life would be absolutely perfect.**

**Ponyboy: **I woke up that morning half expecting and half hoping that Sodapop would burst into the room and start tickling me awake like he always did on Saturday mornings; he didn't.

At first I was confused. Soda was always the first person I saw in the morning, and that's why I was always so cheerful. His attitude was enough to get Dally to lighten up every once and a while if you can imagine that. But then the memories of yesterday came flooding back to me.

Steve at the house, Steve telling me that my brothers thought of me as nothing but an inconvenient little pain in the ass, I remember being jumped, Buck's party and being grounded. They'd probably gone easy on me last night because they knew I'd been hurt. Now though, morning was here and I wasn't hurt at all. I was sure as hell in for it.

This should've frightened me at least a little bit. Darry was already scary enough when he got upset about little things, like me coming home half an hour after curfew, but those were all stupid mistakes. Last night I had deliberately gone to Buck's knowing it would piss Darry off. Not only would it piss him off, but I wasn't allowed to go there and that's the last place they'd have thought to look. Darry would be livid now that he knew I would be awake enough to understand his lecture. But I just couldn't find the strength to care.

They both said what they said, the truth was out and they could drop the act. There would be no reason for them to care about me sneaking out to Buck's or making good grades. This was a surprising relief to me; I could finally relax. I don't care what happens when I walk through the kitchen door. There was no reason for me to fear any anger.

I was broken from my thoughts by two soft knocks on the door. Knowing it was probably Sodapop, I froze and regained my composure. "Come in," I said just loud enough for him to hear. Even in this state of unrest I was in, I could still tell that my voice was off. There would be no fooling him now.

To my surprise it wasn't only Soda that entered the room, but Darry as well. I tried to open my mouth and ask Darry why he wasn't at work, but I was stunned silent; there wasn't as much as a peep to escape my lips.

Without a word, Soda slid into the bed and sat next to me, while Darry sat across from me on the edge. Both of their faces were etched with an emotion that I wasn't quite able to pinpoint. Fear, worry, anger? When Darry finally spoke, I settled on worry.

"Listen Ponyboy," he said slowly. "I know there's no way you'll want to talk to us but… we need to talk to you." There was something new in Darry's tone; desperation. Darry was always careful not to show any type of emotion. After our parent's funeral, you'd expect any regular nineteen year old to look up to the skies and pray that their parents would come back. They would pray because life as they knew it was over, all familiarity gone, and because they had to take on major responsibilities.

Darry however, was never really a dreamer. Once they were gone, they were gone and that was it. After all of the custody details had been settled in court, Darry went home and closed the door to our parents' bedroom for months and didn't talk about them or accept further condolences. They were gone, they'd left us, and Darry was smart enough to realize that and shut off everything else. He'd never been one to get desperate. Until today, it seemed.

"About?" I finally replied, my voice cold and hard. It was time for me to switch personalities with my older brother. For once, I would be the strong one. For once, I would not break.

"About what happened with Steve yesterday," he stated firmly. That caught me off guard. I'd expected him to lecture me, tell me off for being at Buck's last night; for sneaking out. But _no. _He just had to ask me about Steve.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I sneered defiantly. I wasn't about to let them attempt to justify their actions.

"Like hell you don't!" Soda shot at me, speaking for the first time since he'd entered the room. "We heard you talkin' in your sleep last night, Pony! We know what he said to you."

"How do you know it wasn't just a stupid dream?" I demanded, silently praying that I could pass it off as just that. "I mean, hell, you know half the stuff I dream is complete crap. Why is this any different?

"Because I talked to him kiddo," Sodapop told me gently as he carefully placed his hand upon my shoulder. "He told me everything, and he told me that he never meant to hurt you that way."

It wasn't funny and it wasn't believable, but for some reason laughter bubbled up inside of me and I couldn't seem to contain it. This laughter wasn't normal though, wasn't mine. This laugh was that of someone who was being torn in half; anything but natural.

"You think… that he's actually _sorry?" _I gasped out between my chuckles. "You don't get it do you? You don't see Steve for what he really is; a cowardly, sneaky son of a bitch. He tells you that he's sorry, but he doesn't really mean it. Steve wanted to see me in pain; he wanted to make me believe that you've hated me ever since mom and dad died. That scumbag doesn't have a sorry bone in his body."

"That's why… I told him never to come back."

That was absolutely not what I had expected. "You-you _what?" _ I pressed. "Why in the hell would you ever do something like that?"

"'Cuz he hurt my baby brother," Soda's statement was simple enough, but there was an undertone of darkness to it. "Nobody, not even my best buddy, is allowed to do that and walk away thinking I won't make their life living hell for doing it. I love you Ponyboy, I just wish you could see that."

At that moment I felt something crack within me, and all of a sudden I felt suffocated. I couldn't talk to Soda and Darry. Not right now, when all I want is to cling to those three words and believe everything Steve said to me was a lie. I couldn't take that chance. Like Dally was always telling me, I couldn't be weak. I had to be strong, no matter how much sense it all made when they pieced it together for me.

Abruptly, I leaped from my bed out of my brother's arms, mumbled that I needed to go for a run and I'd be back in a few hours and dashed out the door.

I needed to talk to someone about this, try and figure out whether or not Darry and Soda just told me the truth or lied to my face. The only snag was that the whole gang had either probably just gotten to my house or were probably busy. The one option that was left available to me was the one I would've chosen anyway. She would be the one person to know what to do in a situation like this. I needed to talk to Jade.

**A/N: Okay, so I feel like that was a crap chapter but I could be wrong. The good news is that I know exactly where this story is headed now, and I don't have any homework this weekend so I'm devoting myself to writing. I swear that I WILL be back with a new update tomorrow if you guys review and tell me what you thought! I love you all!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hi everyone! See, I TOLD you I would be back today! Thank you all so much for the love and encouragement you showed me in your reviews, I am so delighted to be back and to know that you all do not hate me, haha. I do need to address something, though. A lot of you have been expressing concerns with Jade having a possible romance with Ponyboy, but I promise that romance is not her purpose in this story, this is a story centered around the bond of the gang if that eases your worry! Anyway, I love you guys and please enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned the Outsiders, if I had then it would mean I came up with the beautiful human being that is Sodapop Patrick Curtis.**

**Jade POV: **Ponyboy had just called me from a payphone about ten minutes ago telling me to meet him outside the Dingo. To say I was worried about him would be an understatement. Was I proud of him for finally giving Steve a taste of his own medicine? Absolutely, but that didn't mean I wasn't concerned when he showed up to see me yesterday acting like a smaller, more afraid version of Dallas Winston.

I may never have officially met the gang apart from Johnny, but with the way Pony talked about them, I knew each of their personalities better than I knew my own sometimes, and that was definitely Dally that surfaced when he left yesterday. Now here he was calling me out of the blue and saying he needed someone to talk to, I was terrified. Terrified of learning what had happened in the last twenty-four hours that had made him desperate for a confidant, and terrified to learn what was going through his mind.

"Jade," I heard his familiar voice call out to me as he neared me from the other side of the street.

"Hey," I said, breathing out a sigh of relief and pulling him into a tight but brief hug. "What the hell is goin' on, Ponyboy? What happened?"

He looked uneasy for a moment, before he led me inside and sat down at the booth. "Sit down," he muttered. "I've got a lot to tell you."

After he got up to get us milkshakes, he sat back down and began to divulge to me what happened after he left me at the library yesterday. Pony spared me no details, telling me about everything from getting jumped by a group of Socs, to sneaking out to Buck's last night and falling off the bull.

"Pony," I said, shocked silent. I didn't know what to say; this wasn't my best friend sitting across from me, this was a guy that was breaking to pieces, if not already broken, and I was scared for him. "What the hell is happenin' to you? I mean, before yesterday all you cared about was reading and track, and you loved your brothers. Now, you're listening to Steve _Randall _of all people tell you that your brothers, who have given up so much because they love you, hate you? And you walk around Tulsa trying to impersonate Dallas Winston? This ain't natural, Pone."

"That's not even the worst part," he told me, completely ignoring my question. "The worst part is that Soda confronted Steve, and Steve told him everything."

"Wait… ain't that a good thing?" I wondered, sounding less confused than I felt? Why wouldn't Pony want that? "Why wouldn't you want Steve to own up?"

"Because they cornered me this morning and talked to me about it, tried to convince me that they ain't ever said a word against me, that they love me and all that crap."

"Okay Pony, no," I interrupted him, refusing to let this go on any longer. "If they're telling you that, why don't you believe them? Why would you believe Steve over them? They wouldn't ever lie to you."

"Well, what if they are?" he argued hotly. "What if they're just trying to cover up because they feel guilty? Or because they just want me to forgive Steve so they don't gotta cut him out of the gang?"

"Oh, shut up Ponyboy," I snapped. "You and I both know that that's a load of bull."

"Or worse," he moaned, sounding miserable now. "What if they _are _telling the truth? If they have, then I've been acting like an ass the whole time. I put Soda, my own brother, my favorite person in the entire world in _tears. _How could I be so _stupid, _Jade?"

"Hey," I whispered comfortingly, reaching for my friend's hand across the table. "You are most certainly _not _stupid. Yes, you acted like a jerk, but it wasn't your fault. You were tricked into thinking those things were said about you, and it isn't just unfair to your brothers, it's unfair to _you. _They're gonna forgive you, you're their brother and they love you no matter what. It just sounds to me like they wanna help you."

"How can you be so sure about all this?" he wondered bleakly. "You don't even know 'em."

"From what I can tell, they're a hell of a lot like you," I smiled at him. "After all, even before your mama and daddy died they looked after you. Darry was the one that taught you how to play football, Ponyboy, and Soda was the one that taught you that no matter how bad a situation is, there's always a way to get a laugh out of it, right?"

He nodded slowly, refusing to look at me now.

"Listen," I told him firmly. "They would never say anything like that about you, and they ain't gonna turn you away like some sorta lost puppy. They're your brothers and they're gonna forgive you."

"I dunno," he muttered, letting go of my hand and standing up. "I'm just gonna head over to the library and read a little to clear my head."

"Oh," I said, startled by this abrupt change of course. "Well… do you want me to come with you, keep you company?"

"Nah it's fine," he shrugged, got up and hugged me. "I'll see you at school on Monday, okay? I just need some time on my own right now to figure things out. Bye," and then he was gone.

Judging by the state he was in when he left, it was clear that he had started to believe me about his brothers. It was also clear however, that he didn't believe me, that he felt like something was eating him inside and that at any moment he may snap.

I made a decision then, and it was a decision that I'd hoped I didn't have to turn to, but it was clear that it was time. I needed to confront Soda and Darry."

When I stepped out of the Dingo I ran face first into the chest of another Greaser. "Sorry," I said, embarrassed. "I'm so clumsy sometimes I dunno what to do with myself."

There was a soft chuckle from the guy I'd run into. "Yeah Jade, I knew that already." Shocked that this boy knew my name, I looked up to find Johnny Cade staring at me with a timid smile on his face. Johnny and I are close too, but nowhere near as close as either of us were to Pony.

"So what brings you here?" I tried to act casual, not like I'd just seen our best friend nearly break down before my eyes.

"Soda and Darry told me what happened," he explained, assuming correctly that I already knew. "So I followed Pony here, hoping I could talk to him. Then I saw him with you, so I figured I'd better wait it out because I knew whatever he had to tell you was probably real important. When he walked outta here though, he pretended that he didn't even see me."

"So you put together the pieces and decided you wanted to come and ask me about it?" I put it all together now.

"Yeah," he nodded. "And I pretty much knew you told him what I would've. That they do love him and that they'd forgive him for being Dal for a day. Am I right?"

"Frighteningly so."

He smiled again, a rare thing for Johnny; and then his face turned serious once more. "Does he believe you?" he inquired of me.

"I think he might, but there's something that I have to do to help my case first."

"Soda and Darry?" he asked, bewildered. "You're sure? It's come to that?"

"Yes," I said with finality, leaving him no room to argue with me. "It's come to that." And without another word, I made in the direction of Pony's house, with Johnny following close behind.

**A/N: So how do you guys think the confrontation will go? And what do you think Darry and Soda will think of Jade? I may actually update again tomorrow, but if not, I will be here next weekend if you guys review enough! Just remember, the more reviews I have, the higher chance there is that I'll be back on tomorrow and not Friday! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hi everyone! I am so deeply sorry that it took me so long to come back and update, but school just got in the way, and obviously school comes before writing (unfortunately). If I had it my way I'd spend all day everyday in front of this computer writing for you all, but that is unfortunately not the case. Now however, ITS SUMMER and I can update more often than ever. I promise this will not be like the last "summer of updates" which featured only one update. I can certainly say I will probably be home for most of this summer and have plenty of time to provide your wonderful pairs of eyes with some decent fanfiction. That being said, you are all wonderful and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the magnificent work of fiction that is The Outsiders. That pleasure belongs to the one and only Suzie Hinton.**

**ONE MORE THING: THERE WILL BE ONE MINOR OFFENSE IN THIS CHAPTER AND I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY I AM IN NO WAY SEXIST OR HOMOPHOBIC, I'M ONLY TRYING TO STAY TRUE TO THE SO-CALLED 'POLITICALLY CORRECT TERMS OF THE 1960'S AND MEAN NO HARM OR OFFENSE TO ANY ONE OF YOU.**

**Darry POV: **"Where the hell could he have gone?" I demanded of Soda. "The kid stormed out of here an hour ago. If he was just coolin' off he shoulda been done by now."

"But Dar, this _is _Ponyboy we're talkin' about," Sodapop reminded me. "When he's mad, he's gonna hold things in, calm down and then come home and be reasonable because that's the guy he is."

"_How _can you be so nonchalant about this?" I inquired. "For the past few days, Pony has been acting more like Dally than he has like Pony, and on top of it all he thinks we don't love him. I mean, how can you be so okay with this? I feel like I'll have a full head of grey hair in a week."

"I'm not being irresponsible or anythin', Dar," he whispered, his voice dropping low. "I just have hope that the kid he used to be without this mess with Steve will resurface.

I was about to tell my younger, ever so optimistic brother that I wasn't so sure, but I was interrupted by the chime of the doorbell. I was a little confused as to why it was ringing. Usually the gang just walked in and went straight to the fridge. Sure enough, I was surprised to see a small girl with pale blonde hair that looked about Pony's age standing on our doorstep with Johnny Cade trailing right behind her.

We both stood there silent for a moment, each of us assessing the other. She was staring at me apprehensively, as if she were debating turning around and making a run for it. When she turned back to face Johnny, his usually terrified expression flipped up briefly into an encouraging smile as he urged her with his hands to go on.

I tried to peer over this girls head and flash a look to Johnny, but her soft voice caught my attention as she spoke. "Um… Darry?"

I blinked twice. How did this broad know my name? "Do I know you?" I asked her bluntly. If I didn't know her I didn't want to bother with any pleasantries. Luckily my mother wasn't here anymore to see my lack of manners. She surely would have broken out her best wooden spoon and clomped me over the head.

The girl went slightly pink as she shook her head. "Uh, no but I know you," she said and slapped a hand against her face. "Glory that sounded creepy! Sorry, um… I'm one of Pony's friends."

"What?" I said, baffled. As far as I knew, my brother wasn't even remotely interested in girls yet, so why would one show up at our house? There was no way they could actually be 'just friends.' People said that kind of thing existed, but the honest truth was that guys never wanted to be 'just friends' with a chic; not unless they were trying to get in her pants or a queer, anyway.

She spoke a little louder now, slightly more sure, but not any less timid. "I'm Jade," she said again. "Jade Hillsbury. I'm one of Pony's friends from school."

Huh, maybe Pony _was _getting interested in girls after all. I mean he _is _about that age by now. I'll have to have a talk with him later. "H-he's not here right now," I told her still slightly confused. "When he gets back, I'll tell him you stopped by."

"Wait," she said as I made to close the door. "I know he isn't here. I was just with him, that's what I came here to talk to you about."

"You were with him just now?" I repeated back to her. "How did he seem to you?"

Jade didn't answer right away, and by this point Soda had come to stand behind me, curious as to what was taking me so long. Her face contorted for a moment, partially in worry and the other part in sadness. "Honestly," she said. "He looked torn up. I know about what happened with Steve yesterday."

Soda sucked in a breath behind me and didn't seem to let it go. I looked at her before looking back at a very hesitant Johnny, still standing there as though he were waiting for me to kick her to the curb. "Maybe you two had both better come inside."

An hour later Ponyboy still hadn't turned up and Jade and Johnny were still perched on the loveseat, both their bodies fitting as they were both smaller, across from me and Soda. They had told us everything.

"So… just to clarify, you were _with _Pone right before he got jumped near the library?" I said seriously.

She nodded. "Yes. He told me everything, and I told him from the beginning that it was a load of crap and that you both loved him more than anything."

"You didn't see the Socs come outta their car?"

"Nah. As soon as he got up and stopped answering when I called him back I left. I didn't know about the Socs until he told me earlier."

"Do you know if he's… angry with us?"

"I think he was at first," she said softly. "But today he came to me and asked me how he could forgive you if it was real, if Steve had actually told him the truth. Then he decided that you might have been telling him the truth all along and he felt infinitely worse and stormed off again, telling me that he needed some alone time. Probably went to the library."

I nodded. That hiding place was the only one of Pony's that made sense to me. He knew no one in the gang would be caught dead going in there, and he knew I wouldn't because he knew I had no time and a lack of interest in anything that wasn't sports. "Well," I sighed. "Thanks for finally comin' forward and sayin' something."

Jade smiled. "No problem."

"Wait a sec," Soda cut in. "You said y'all are just friends, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then how come he ain't never mentioned you to us? How come he ain't never brought you buy the house?"

For a moment, Jade looked sad and her eyes filled with tears. "Um, he used to," she whispered shakily. "When your parents were alive."

"Y-you knew our parents?" I asked, taken aback.

"They were like my second parents," she nodded. "After they died, Pony distanced himself from me for a while, but we've recently become close again. He never mentioned me because he thought you'd both jump to the conclusion that I was his girlfriend, which I'm not. And as for not bringing me by anymore, we may not be a couple, but he sure is protective. He don't trust Steve, Two-Bit, Dally or even you Soda to keep your hands to yourselves." 

Soda snorted. "What's he on about? I am a perfect gentleman!"

Jade chuckled. "I bet. He's just overprotective."

"So now we have all this settled," Johnny finally spoke. "What do we do about this whole thing?"

I was about to open my mouth to respond, but Jade beat me to it. "It's simple, but it won't be easy," she said. "We wait for him to come back, and while we do, y'all will call the gang _and _Steve," she turned to my middle brother and I.

"We will?" Soda said. "Why?"

Jade's next words were shaky, like she thought she'd never have to say them, but she spoke them with confidence. "Because it takes an entire family to stage an intervention."

**A/N: Ooooh, things are finally heating up with the whole Pony/Steve conflict? How do you all think the intervention will go? Where do you think Pony's got to if he's not actually at the library? So many questions holding so many answers to come in the next chapter or two. I solemnly swear this time that I will be back within the next two days. I have a very uneventful summer ahead of me but I have also acquired a new puppy so I am also taking care of him. Review and I'll see you all very soon! I love you!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	16. Chapter 16

** A/N: Well hello, lovelies! For those of you that don't know, I had a virus on my computer and was rendered unable to use my internet for about a month. Fun right? Anyway, it is actually a legitimate excuse this time so nobody is allowed to hate me! Enjoy your intervention chapter, my darlings!**

** Disclaimer: If I owned the Outsiders Dally and Johnny would live and I'd be married to Soda. Guess you know where I stand.**

** Sodapop POV: **It was less than five minutes after I made the first two phone calls that Two-Bit and Dally came marching through the door.

"Hey Soda, got your phone call!" Two-Bit said as he walked in, all traces of humor gone from his voice. "What the hell is going on?"

"Does the word 'intervention' mean nothin' to you, Two-Bit?" scoffed Dallas. "Ponyboy's fallin' off his rocker and he needs people to beat some sense into his ass! _That's _why we're here."

Before I could even open my mouth to tell Dal off, Darry was in front of him and had him by the collar of his leather jacket about to beat the tar outta him. But even Dar was stopped short when a girl's voice shouted at us to stop from behind us.

Jade. For a moment there I'd forgotten she was even was sorta strange to think that my little brother was friends with a girl; and a real pretty one at that. Boy, if I wasn't with Sandy… _no! Bad Sodapop, you're taken! _Besides, I don't think I'd ever date someone my brother's age just yet, maybe when he was twenty or somethin'. Either way, my brother had made it clear without even being here that this chic was off limits to me. He may not have the hot's for her now, but I only gave him a couple more years before he caved and saw what was right in front of him.

I realized that Two-Bit and Dally were both staring past me with really confused expressions. "Well hello there," Two-Bit said suavely, immediately turning on the charm as he held out his hand to her. "And who's this little lady?"

"This is Pony's _friend _Jade, Two-Bit," I laughed as his eyes began to look like they'd fall outta his head. "She's the one that suggested this whole thing."

For once, Two-Bit was at loss for words and Dally was the one to pipe up, "Wow, the kid got you? I need to step up my game!" and he went to shake her hand, kissing it along the way.

Jade went a real funny shade of red and she said, "Me and Pony are just friends. I'm real worried about him."

Two-Bit nodded. "So are we," and then he turned to Darry. "What's the plan Superman?"

Darry didn't do anything but nod in Jade's direction, to which she replied, "Well, we're waiting for Pony to come back from wherever the hell he is, and then when he does, he can come sit down next to me, each of you are gonna tell him how you truly feel about him, and then I'll explain how everything Steve said was a lie. Then, Steve will show up and we make them hash out their issues."

"That is some of the most girly shit I have ever heard," Dally roared with laughter. "No wonder the kid is so damn poetic; he's friends with this broad!"

"No wonder he's been so damn violent lately! It was bound to rub off on him, being friends with a cocky, arrogant, rude son of a bitch like you!" she retorted.

We were all shocked. Nobody and I mean _nobody _talked to Dallas Winston like that and got away with it; but Jade just seemed to.

Dally himself was speechless, having never met a girl that could match his temper. I caught him staring at her with a curious glance, and I realized why my brother feared her going near Dal. He must've known she'd be able to take him on and he knew that it may lead to Dallas pursuing her. Huh, looks like Pone's gonna have his hands full when he finds out about this.

"Well, well," Dally finally said his voice slow and amused. "Looks like you're a little spitfire too. I think I can learn to like having you around, Soc girl."

"Thanks," she said, her smile filled with pride. "Now," Jade turned her attention to the rest of us. "We wait for Ponyboy to come home."

**Ponyboy POV: **"Here Curtis, have a drink. Take a load off," Curly was encouraging me, waving the beer bottle in my face. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure why I'm here myself. Maybe it was because I knew Darry wouldn't approve of me being at the Shepard party alone if at all. Or maybe it was because I _did _need to take a load off. I still wasn't sure what to do about the whole situation with Soda and Darry.

I mean… what if Jade was right? What if my brothers weren't lying to me and they really did love me? That would mean I was a complete ass for no reason at all.

_ Shit! _Why would I _ever _listen to Steve? Why would I believe _anything _he said to me? Even I knew the stupid prick was out to get me! He wouldn't tell me the truth about my hair being on fire much less about my own brother's feelings.

Even so, the thing about Steve's lies was that even when they were lies there were small truths mixed in. That made me wonder: what portion of what he said was twisted truth, and what was a fabricated lie? I decided I'd better go home and confront my brothers myself.

Jade was always telling me that if I wanted them to consider me as mature as I felt I had to face up to my fears, show weakness when needed and courage and caution at appropriate times. And now I was finally taking her advice. It took great courage and caution to approach Darry and facing Soda would bring out the weakest parts of me.

"Nah thanks though," I told Curly finally. "I think I'm gonna head home."

I sighed and looked up to the sky. _This is the moment I wish you were really here to see, Dad, _I thought. _This is going to be the moment when Ponyboy Michael Curtis will finally become a man._

**A/N: So… I was going to have the intervention in this chapter but I'm sorta tired so I'm gonna split this up a little more. Originally, I was going to have this be really long and have the epilogue be the next chapter. Luckily though, now we have one more to go and then the epilogue! So tell me what you all thought and I'll be back very soon! I love you guys!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	17. Chapter 17

** A/N: PLEASE READ THIS: Hi loves, this is not an apology because I haven't been gone long, but it is a statement. I got a rude review the last chapter that seemed to think that I hate Steve, and there's too much Steve hate, but that's what the story ****_is. _****Steve has caused all these events, therefore in this story he is portrayed as a bigger ass than he actually is. I actually adore Steve's character and think he deserved more of a part in the books. I'm hating on him because that's the basis of the story. If you don't like it you don't have to read this. Anyway, thank you to everyone else for the loving and as always amazing response! We're almost at the end guys! Enjoy!**

** Disclaimer: Don't own the Outsiders and never will. They belong to the lovely S.E. Hinton.**

** Ponyboy POV: **_Well, here goes nothin', _I thought as I stood nervously at the other end of my own front door. Why I was so nervous to go into my own house, I'll never know. _Because for the last couple days you acted like a complete ass to your own family for nothing, _that annoying voice inside my head reminded me once again.

_Shut up, _I told it and took one last large gulp of fresh air before opening the door and going inside. "Darry!" I called. "Sodapop! I'm back!"

"In here kiddo!" I heard Soda call from the family room and I shuddered at the nickname, noting that my brother's voice sounded uneven and strained… was he nervous about something. _Maybe about seeing you, _the voice bit back once more. _After all, you've been a shit excuse for a brother these past few days. How could he not be afraid to face you?_

_ Shut _up! I told it again as I rounded the corner to the family room. What greeted my eyes was the very last thing I expected to see. Sitting on the couch staring at me was none other than Jade, who was sandwiched between Dally and Johnny, with Two-Bit on Dally's opposite side. In dad's old chair there was Darry staring at me with a weary expression, and in the loveseat there was Soda, who looked more sad and worried then I'd ever seen him.

"What the hell is goin' on?" I demanded and then turned to Jade. "What are you _doing _here? Did you come with Johnnycake?"

"No Pony, I didn't," she told me gently. "Well, I did, but I didn't give him a choice about bringing me or not. I had to come here."

"W-w-why?" I stuttered. "You haven't been back here since," I swallowed roughly as the memory of my parents flooded my mind again. "Since _they _died."

"I know, Pony. And I know you didn't want me around here because you didn't want the boys to assume things, but I had to come here. I had to let your brothers know that I knew _something; t_hat I've _seen _you. You need to hear the truth Pony."

"The truth about what?" I said my voice slow and cautious. I'd known Jade long enough to know that when she spoke to you like a child, there was something serious going on, something that I would probably regret getting involved in in the first place.

"Pony, sit down," Darry motioned to the empty seat on the couch next to Two-Bit. "We need to have a family talk."

"Then why's everyone else here?" I retorted snobbishly. Even though I knew I was at fault for a good portion of this situation, I was one hundred percent certain that Darry was at fault for many incidences as well, and I wasn't prepared to let him belittle me and treat me like an insolent child.

"Because they're a part of this family," Soda cut in softly. "We're all real worried about you Pone, and we wanna help you."

"What is this, some sorta intervention?" I scoffed. "I ain't on drugs; I've just been pissed off lately."

"We know kid," Dally said. "But these two are worried that if you keep bein' pissed and disobeying them and going out to parties that it's gonna _lead _to drugs. We all are," he tacked on as an afterthought.

Well that _was _something. Dally just, in his own way, admitted that _he _was worried about _me. _If Dally could admit that, then there _was _something seriously wrong.

Before I could get a word out, the door busted open and Steve ran inside. "Hey y'all! Sorry I'm late I just-" he stopped short when he saw us all sitting in a circle around the living room. "What's going on?" his voice was suspicious and his eyes narrowed. They fell on Jade. "Who's she?" he demanded and then he turned to Soda. "You said you wanted to talk to me," his voice was accusing. "To work things out."

"That's 'because I do," said Soda simply. "But we're all gonna have a talk first, and _everyone _is gonna work out their issues," he said pointedly.

"Are you _serious?" _Steve's voice was incredulous. "I said I was sorry about hurting the kid's feelings, and that's not enough? We have to have a full on intervention about it? That's bull!"

"I agree," I raised my hand and Steve made a motion raising his eyebrows as if to say: _See?_

"We need the intervention," Darry clarified. "Not only because you two idiots can't get along, but because we're worried about Pony and how it's gonna affect our relationship with him _and _his health."

That seemed to shut Steve up. He went and sat down on the floor in front of the couch. "But who's the Soc girl?" he wondered, looking at Jade again.

Before he could answer I said. "The Soc girl has a name. Steve, this is my _friend _Jade. Jade, this is Steve."

The two of them sat there and appraised one another for a moment, seeming to be locked into a full-on staring contest. Steve's eyes were full of appraisal and Jade… she was giving him such a look of contempt that it made me grin. Hell, I think even Dallas looked proud.

"What do you mean 'affect his health'?" Steve wondered, turning to Darry and breaking his stare, his usually cocky face looking slightly uncomfortable now. I could see Jade trying to hold in her sense of triumph and I let out a laugh, which I covered up with a cough after earning a disapproving glance from Darry.

"Ever since the little 'incident' between the two of you, he's gotten real snappy and aggressive, sneaking out to drink and party at Buck's and the Shepard's, and I know it's kinda stupid to be worried because I know the whole gang likes to party, but Pony," he said turning to me. "The parties, the wanting to stay out later, Soda and I can deal with. What we can't deal with is feeling like you're isolating yourself from us."

There were tears in his eyes now and he seemed unable to continue. So the next person I turned to was Soda. "Darry's right," he said shakily. "The scariest thing for me Pone wasn't that you were mouthing off. Hell, you're a teenager you're _expected _to mouth off. The scariest thing though was when you just shut me off. You've always come to me with everything, no matter how bad it was, and all of a sudden you turned all cold and then claimed I'd never really loved you and, and _god _Pony that kills me! It's been killin' me to know you think that I don't love you when you are the most important person in my life!"

He broke down into tears and I felt my own heart fall to pieces. "Aw Soda," I said, trying to swallow back my own tears. "Golly Sodapop, don't cry! I was bein' stupid, I know that now! I ain't ever shoulda thought y'all didn't love me but I, I just felt so alone and I didn't know what to do!"

"Well that's why you should come to us," cut in Dal unexpectedly. "When I found you on that mechanical bull the other night Pony… god man, I wasn't sure what the hell was goin' on! Had you been okay, you woulda never gone down to Buck's in the first place, and when I tried to talk some sense into you… you sounded like _me! _And if I'm bein' totally honest here kid, it scared me to death! Now I may act like I don't give a damn about anyone in this group besides Johnnycake, but that ain't true! We all love you stupid, including me! So you'd better get your shit together!"

"Look Pone, Dal's right!" said Two-Bit earnestly, like he was half afraid and half concerned. "We _all _care about you, and we're all worried sick. I may make fun of you for bein' brainy and ask you to go party with me, but honestly I don't want you to do that. I just want you to go back to being the same ol' Ponyboy who likes to read useless crap and do his homework."

"And I want my best buddy back," Johnny said. "You usually either talk to me, Jade or Soda and you ain't been talking to any of us over something stupid, something you _should _have talked to Soda and Darry about the second it happened. Just listen to us Pone, let us in."

"I agree," Jade finally stepped up. "Pony," she said sadly. "Ever since your mama and daddy died you've been different. I mean, you've been _mostly _the same. You still read, and write, and run but you don't laugh, smile or talk as much and you only trust certain people now. And now that Steve said what he did you've shut out the only people you really love, and it isn't okay! We need you Pony!" she screamed and began to cry. "_I _need you! You're my best friend and I feel like I've lost you!"

My heart broke a little more and I moved to go to her, but to my surprise Dallas reached over and patted her shoulder, not even noticing that he'd done it himself. I felt my hands ball up into fists but I decided to let it go until after this whole thing was over.

"Guys," I finally said. "I am _so _sorry for being such an asshole lately. Darry, Soda," I looked at them. "I shouldn't have jumped the gun the way I did. When Steve and I fought I should have come to you so we could talk, not do what I did. I love you guys. Dammit, I love all you guys," a lump began to rise in my throat. "Hell, what would a Greaser do without a gang like you guys?"

Getting up, I went and hugged both Darry and Soda, who nearly crushed me, then me and Two-Bit did a kinda slap-on-the-back man-hug and to my surprise Dally grabbed me in a bear hug as well as Johnny. Finally I embraced Jade and whispered a thank you into her ear, to which she smiled and replied, "Anytime."

"I do think we're forgetting someone though," Soda said, grinning suddenly.

"What are you talking abou-" I started, and then my eyes landed on Steve who was still perched on the ground, looking glum and cutting me off effectively.

He looked up at the sudden silence. "I guess it's my turn, huh?" he asked, smiling grimly and turning to me. "Look kid," he said and looked as though it pained him to do so. "I'm sorry I said what I did, I was just… havin' a real rough day I guess and I was just pissed. I may not like you all that much but I shouldn't have said what I did. These guys love you," he said, motioning to the gang. "And so do I in my own way kid, just don't like to admit it."

I laughed. "I suppose I'm not gonna get the actual words 'I love you' outta your mouth, am I?"

"Hell no," he became suddenly serious.

"Then I guess we're good now," I worked to match his tone.

"Guess so."

"Glory, would you two just hug it out already?" Dally shouted, exasperatedly. "Get the chic moment over with, would ya?"

So Steve and I gave each other a bear hug and he turned to Soda animatedly. The two best best-buddies I had ever known were back together and our gang was back in full swing. Two-Bit was now following Darry around and mimicking his every move, Jade had actually entrenched Johnny into a conversation, and Dally was all of a sudden standing in front of me.

"Good to have you back kid," he said gruffly, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Thanks Dal," I said wincing.

"Hey kid um, that broad o' yours over there... do you have the hots for her or somethin'?"

"No… why?" I demanded suspiciously.

"Cuz' she's one hell of a girl. The age difference between her and I ain't that much and she's pretty easy on the eyes. What I'm saying is, if you don't want her, I'm taking her."

"Ah, shit!"

**A/N: Haha fricken Dally making moves on Jade! But yay, all is forgiven now! We just have the epilogue left, folks and I am equal parts sad and excited! Let me know how you liked it, and I'll be back very soon! I love you all!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**-thewolfgurlgleek :)**


	18. Epilogue

**A/N: Hello, my dears! I'm sorry that I didn't update as soon as I had originally planned, but I've been celebrating the engagement of a family member and have some family staying with me from out of town, so I'm sure you can understand that I've been extremely busy over the past month; and what sucks is… I have school now and it's the start of a really crucial/terrifying year for me and I have test anxiety and sorry, I'm ranting. Anyways, I'd really appreciate you guys reading the note at the very bottom of the chapter when you're done, by the way! Enjoy the epilogue!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders I'd be the happiest person on the whole damn planet. I'm actually quite the pessimist a lot of the time so… guess that's clear.**

**Two months later:**

**Ponyboy POV: **"Got the buns, Dar!" Two-Bit cackled as he burst through the door with a grocery bag filled with hot dog buns. "Let's get our grub on!"

Instead of laughing Darry smacked him upside the head. "Shut up Two-Bit, you idiot. Can't you be serious for even a second?"

"Well," Two-Bit began, his voice taking on a very sophisticated tone. "I am the king of being serious."

"No you ain't," Soda cut in as he loped merrily into the kitchen. "It ain't funny when ya say things like that, buddy, especially when we all know it ain't true."

Two-Bit clamped a hand over his heart and feigned a pained expression. "I resent that," he said disgruntledly. "I can absolutely be serious. Right Pony?" he turned to me.

I've said before how much I love Two-Bit. He's my buddy, my best one besides Johnny and Jade, but I couldn't stop myself from choking on my coke for the life of me. "First of all," I gasped when the air finally started to fill my lungs once again. "You don't even know what the word 'resent' _means. _And second of all," I added. "I ain't never seen you being serious in my whole life, so the answer's probably a _no."_

I expect to get slapped upside the head or somethin', but all Two-Bit did was stick his tongue out at me childishly and walk away pouting. Behind me Sodapop was chuckling.

"Ay, look at you," he said as he ruffled my hair fondly. "Makin' snarky remarks. I knew that you were really my brother and momma and dad didn't just switch out the babies at the hospital."

"Ha-ha real funny," I rolled my eyes at him and turned to Darry. "See what I gotta deal with, Dar?" I let the sarcasm drip into my tone. "It ain't easy sharin' a room with this lousy fella."

"Boy don't I know it," he cracked a very rare grin. "Two more years and I'm kickin' his lazy bum outta the house."

"Hey!"

"Just kiddin', little buddy," Darry chortled, turning back to the dishes

"You'd better be," he retorted and snagged a piece of chocolate cake when he was sure Darry wasn't looking anymore.

Just then the door flung open. "What up, Curtis brothers?" Steve yelled loudly, gleefully, as Johnny and Dal trailed in behind him.

"I must say Randall, I am most offended," Two-Bit said rather peevishly, suddenly appearing behind me again and causing me to jolt. "You walk in here and ask about Darry, Soda and Pony like you weren't just crashin' on their couch this mornin', and you pay absolutely no greeting to me, who you haven't seen in a new record of twenty-four hours."

"Well you ain't important," he snapped and turned to Soda. "I got in to the rodeo tonight buddy, you wanna come?" and then he did something he'd been doing a lot more since things had blown over: "You wanna go with us Pone? I saved plenty o' room."

"Yeah sure, I'll go!"

"Me too," Soda piped up.

"Sure, why not," Johnnycake cut in.

"Savvy," Steve nodded. "That just leaves Darry, and I kinda figured Dal would come whether it was for me or not."

"Well, I'm off for the next two days," Darry said, sounding quite relieved about that fact. "I guess I could spend one night out with you clowns instead of lounging on the recliner."

We all whooped and hollered, Soda and I wrapped him in a hug. Darry barely ever went out with us anymore, not since mom and dad died. It wasn't because he was still grieving, even though we all were. It was because all the jobs he worked to make ends meet made it nearly impossible to ever have a day off, so these two were a godsend for us all.

"Um guys," Dally said, suddenly examining the table closely. "I think I'm gonna skip out on this one."

You could almost hear all six of our mouths hit the floor. "Why would you skip it?" Soda demanded. "If there's anything that you like doin' its bein' at the rodeos."

"I got plans tonight," he retorted hotly. "It ain't none of your business."

Dallas had never said anything like that. "Okay," Darry said slowly. "You're right Dal, it wasn't our business; but it is _now. _Spill it."

"Yeah, which broad you taking out tonight?" Two-Bit asked eagerly.

Dally's cheeks turned red all of a sudden and we were all taken aback far beyond our wildest dreams; and then he muttered something incoherent.

"Sorry?" Steve asked, leaning closer. "We can't hear you man, talk a little louder."

"…"

"Dal, we can't hear you!" I said exasperatedly. "Just tell us so we can get it over with dammit!"

This was something big. It had to be. Most Greasers didn't show emotions like this. As a matter of fact, we were the only gang of guys on this side of town that were a little more soft in my opinion, not that any of the other boys would ever admit it. Besides, if there ever was a tougher Grease than Dally Winston I'd kinda wanna meet this asshole and shake his hand.

Dal was blushing harder than I've ever seen anyone blush in my whole life, and Dallas never blushed. Boy oh boy, this chic must be a big deal!

"Well uh," Dally said laughing nervously and wringing his hands together. "This is kinda funny see, but um… I'm goin' out with Jade tonight. It's our uh… one month anniversary tonight.

There was complete silence in the room for a moment. Then Darry's voice: "Ponyb-"

But it was too late. "_You son of a-!"_

**A/N: Ta daaaa! Haha, yes I'm aware of the intense cheesiness of the ending, and I know I originally said Jade was not put in place as a romantic pawn, but that was for Pony's sake and it wasn't originally planned this way until I thought: how hilarious would it be if Dallas fell for a Soc? Anyway, thank you all SO much for sticking with me through this extremely long process! I know I'm no celebrity and this is very cheesy but I just need to thank you all. Without all your reading and reviews and love, I never would have realized that writing is my dream, that I'd rather die than go without writing. If it weren't for you guys I could have tried out for American Idol and made a fool of myself (I am not kidding, I actually wanted to do that). Because of each and every one of you being so supportive, I know where I'm headed in life. I will be back with another Outsiders story very very soon, maybe one with Pony and a Soc? A Romeo and Juliet kind of thing? Yes? No? Maybe? Okay, I'll just shut up now. Let me know if you guys enjoyed the epilogue and want that next story! I love you all!**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**Xoxo,**

**-thewolfgurlgleek (aka Sabrina) :)**


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